A novel role of globular adiponectin in treatment with HFD/STZ induced T2DM combined with NAFLD rats.

Aims: To evaluate the effects of globular adiponectin (gAd) on treatment of type 2 diabetic rats combined with NAFLD.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one male wistar rats were fed with normal diet (7 rats) or high fat diet (HFD) (14 rats) for 4 weeks, and then HFD-fed rats were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Half of T2DM rats were randomly injected with gAd intraperitoneally for 7 days. The expressions of adiponectin receptors (adipoR1/R2) in liver and skeletal muscle tissues were detected through western blotting or RT-qPCR, respectively.

Results: Globular adiponectin alleviated the hepatic steatosis and increased insulin secretion. In liver, both the protein and mRNA expressions of adipoR2 in T2DM group decreased (P < 0.05, resp.) in contrast to NC group and increased (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, resp.) after gAd treatment. But the protein and mRNA expressions of adipoR1 increased (P < 0.05, resp.) in T2DM group and no change was found in the gAd-treated group. In skeletal muscle, the protein and mRNA expressions of adipoR1 and adipoR2 were upregulated in T2DM group and were downregulated after gAd treatment.

Conclusions: Globular adiponectin could ameliorate the hepatic steatosis and vary the expressions of adiponectin receptors in liver and skeletal muscle by stimulating insulin secretion.