Parameters of glucose and lipid metabolism in the male Gottingen minipig: Influence of age, body weight, and breeding family

The pig is useful as a model for human physiology and pathophysiology and c ould be an important supplement to the many available rodent models of diab etes mellitus. Due to their small size, Gottingen minipigs are especially s uitable for long-term studies. The aim of the study reported here was to es tablish reference values for a range of glucose and lipid homeostasis param eters of interest that could be used to identify possible diabetes-prone ma le Gottingen minipig individuals, families, or age groups. Plasma samples f rom nonfed animals were analyzed for glucose, leptin, fructosamine, insulin , C-peptide, triglyceride, free fatty acids, and total cholesterol values. Breeding family had significant effects only on plasma triglyceride concent rations (P<0.001). Plasma concentrations of glucose (P=0.012), fructosamine (P<0.001) and triglycerides (P<0.001) increased significantly with age, wh ereas total cholesterol concentration decreased significantly (P=0.001) wit h age. Age did not influence other parameters. In conclusion, glycemia and insulinemia increased with age and body weight, possibly indicating a small deterioration in insulin sensitivity with age. It is, therefore, hypothesized that older, compared to younger animals may be more useful in the development of a model of type-2 diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, on the basis of decrease in cholesterol concentration with age , animals fed ad libitum with possibly a high calorie diet might be even mo re useful in the development of a type-2 diabetes mellitus model.