FREE FATTY-ACID PROFILES IN THE NONOBESE DIABETIC (NOD) MOUSE - BASALSERUM LEVELS AND EFFECTS OF ENDOCRINE MANIPULATION

The non-obese diabetic mouse (NOD) is one of the few available models of spontaneous autoimmune insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The authors determined the free fatty acid (FFA) levels and the concen trations and relative percentages of the various classes of FFA before the onset of diabetes in both sexes at 2 and 4 months of age and in d iabetic females. A circadian rhythm of FFA concentrations was found in prediabetic mice, with lower values in the evening. Moreover, there w as a sex difference in FFA concentrations in the morning, with 2-month -old females having higher concentrations than males. Sex and age-rela ted differences were also observed in the concentrations of the variou s classes of FFA, with higher polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration s in 2-month-old females and increases in di- and triunsaturated fatty acids concentrations in both sexes with age. Hormonal manipulation su ch as adrenalectomy and/or castration modulated total FFA and the conc entrations of the various classes of FFA in 2-month-old mice. These FF A differences between males and females should be taken into account i n the onset of type I diabetes.