DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A DIET-INDUCED MURINE MODEL OF TYPE II DIABETES MELLITUS

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the most common chronic meta-bolic dysfunction and represents a global public health challenge. The availability of an optimal animal model of type II diabetes is crucial in understanding the complexity of the pathogenic mecha-nisms underlying this disease and its many associated patho-logies. The aim of this study was represented by the evaluation of diet-induced type II diabetes, with the purpose of creating an experimental mouse model for testing food supplements and the-rapeutic agents in this metabolic disorder. One group of C57BL/6 mice received ad libitum exposure to an in-house purified hyper-caloric diet, enriched with fructose and the second group received a purified standardized commercial diabetes diet. Animals were monitored over 60 days period and the following aspects were assessed during the experiment: clinical state, food in-take, body weight, blood glucose level, hematologic and biochemical para-meters. On the final day, organ samples were collected (liver, kid-neys, and pancreas) for necropsy and histopathologic examina-tion. The obtained results showed that the administration of the in-house hypercaloric, high-fructose diet, for 60 days period, was optimal for installing type II diabetes in C57BL/6 mice.