Renal function and glucose transport in male and female mice with diet-induced type II diabetes mellitus

The aim of this study was to measure cardiovascular and renal function, including the renal transport capacity for glucose, in male and female C57BL/6J mice with diet-induced Type II diabetes mellitus. Typical of Type II diabetes, mice fed a high-fat, high-simple carbohydrate diet for 3 months were obese (45-65 g), hyperglycemic (138-259 mg%), and hyperinsulinemic (1.8-15.06 ng/ml); significant gender differences were observed in all cases. Based on systolic pressure measurements in conscious mice and arterial blood pressure measurements in anesthetized mice, no diet-induced hypertension was observed in either male or female mice. Urine flow rate, sodium, potassium, osmolar, and protein excretion rates were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in male mice fed the high-fat, high-simple carbohydrate diet compared with female mice fed the same diet. However, no differences in the excretion variables existed between male and female mice fed the control diet. The glomerular filtration rate (ml min-1 g kw-1), determined by FITC-inulin, in male and female mice fed the control diet (0.87 +/- 0.01 and 0.90 +/- 0.1, respectively) and high-fat, high-simple carbohydrate diet (0.96 +/- 0.1 and 0.93 +/- 0.2, respectively) was not different between the groups. These hyperglycemic mice were also not glucosuric. Infusions of progressive amounts of glucose in male mice fed either diet for 3 or 6 months demonstrated that the renal threshold for glucose was 400 mg% for all these mice, well above the fasting plasma glucose concentrations observed in this study. Thus, C57BL/6J mice were valuable tools for studying diet-induced obesity, hyperglycemia, and hyperinsulinemia; however, no hypertension or kidney dysfunction was apparent within the time frame of the current study.