 |
Our paradigm for these experiments is pretty simple, we are evaluating the chronic effects of exposure to a voluntary running wheel in 2 mouse models of "insulin resistance". This is one of the important underlying problems that exists in diabetic subjects. |
| |
|
| Generally speaking, mice are quite active in their cages even when voluntary running wheels are not present. This may explain why "normal" mice provided a voluntary running wheel don't show robust improvements in "insulin sensitivity" following access to a voluntary wheel. In the picture to the right you can see some of the spontaneous activity of a mouse outside of the voluntary wheel. |
|
| |
|
 |
One of the two models that we are studying has severe insulin resistance due to an inability to store fat in adipose tissue (as they don't have measurable adipose tissue). One such mouse is pictured on the left. That "bulge" in the midsection is not fat but rather almost all due to a very enlarged "fatty liver". We are anxious to examine the (potential) changes in the "diabetic" features of these mice following voluntary wheel access and running. |
| |
|
