A comparison of metabolomic changes in type-1 diabetic C57BL/6N mice originating from different sources

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Metabolic Disease Research
• Animal Model Development

Background:

• Animal models are crucial for understanding disease pathophysiology and testing therapeutic interventions.
• Despite ethical considerations and proposed alternatives, animal models remain vital for drug development, especially for metabolic diseases requiring whole-body physiology monitoring.
• The National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS) in Korea has developed specific animal strains for drug evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize and compare the response of C57BL/6NKorl mice from NIFDS to chemical-induced diabetes.
• To evaluate the efficacy and safety of drug development using these animal models.
• To compare NIFDS mice with those from the USA and Japan in a type-1 diabetic model.

Main Methods:

• Induction of type-1 diabetes using multiple low-dose streptozotocin treatments in mice.
• Comparison of streptozotocin-induced diabetic models across different mouse origins (Korea, USA, Japan).
• Monitoring of physiological parameters including liver weight and serum amino acid levels.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in response were observed between streptozotocin-induced type-1 diabetic models from varying origins.
• Diabetic mice, irrespective of origin, showed a significant increase in liver weight compared to control groups.
• Disturbances in serum amino acid levels were a notable characteristic of diabetic mice across all tested origins.

Conclusions:

• The streptozotocin-induced type-1 diabetes model is comparable across C57BL/6NKorl mice from Korea, USA, and Japan.
• Increased liver weight and altered serum amino acid profiles are key indicators of chemically induced type-1 diabetes in these models.
• The observed characteristic increase in serum amino acids in diabetic mice warrants further research into their relationship with type-1 diabetes and Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA).