Interleukin-15 treatment improves glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity in obese mice

The prevalence of metabolic diseases associated with obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, continues to rise along with obesity rates. Recently, obesity has been described as an inflammatory condition, suggesting a link between the dysregulation in proinflammatory cytokine production and the aetiology of these metabolic diseases. While known as an immunomodulatory cytokine, Interleukin-15 (IL-15) has been shown to have effects on adipose tissue and induce weight loss in diet-induced obese mice. As weight loss improves glucose homeostasis, the goal of this study was to determine whether IL-15 impacts glucose regulation in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. Our data demonstrate that IL-15 treatment significantly improves insulin sensitivity and glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose challenge compared to obese counterparts and/or lean controls. These results show that IL-15 may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity and its associated abnormal glucose regulation.