Increased Glucagon Immunoreactivity in a Rat Model of Diet-Induced Obesity following Sleeve Gastrectomy

Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective treatment for obesity, and procedures such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) also result in rapid improvements in insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. In addition, these procedures cause changes in the secretion of various gut-derived hormones. The role these hormones play in the mechanism of the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery is still debated, but nonetheless, their importance provides inspiration for novel obesity-targeted pharmacotherapies.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either regular chow or a cafeteria diet to induce obesity. A sub-group of the obese animals then underwent either sham surgery or SG.

Following a 4-week recovery period, SG rats weighed significantly less than obese or sham-operated rats. Improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity also occurred in the SG group, but these were not always statistically significant. We measured the intracellular lipid content of liver samples and found that obese rats showed signs of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which were significantly ameliorated by SG. There were significantly higher glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide responses to a standard mixed meal in the SG group, as well as paradoxically higher glucagon secretion.

These data highlight the need for more specific anti-glucagon antibodies to characterize the changes in proglucagon-derived peptide concentrations that occur following SG. Further studies are required to determine whether these peptides contribute to the therapeutic effects of SG.