The correlation between percent liver weight (PLW) and percent fat cells (PFC) of liver in HFD-STZ induced diabetic rats in comparison with insulin, metformin and combination treated diabetic rats.

Abstract

Background: The study was designed to evaluate short term effects of commonly used antidiabetic drugs on liver.  The objective of the study is to observe and analyze the correlation between percent liver weight and percent liver fat cells in control rats and diabetic, insulin, metformin and insulin-metformin combination treated high fat diet (HFD) / Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic albino rats. Study Design: Experimental comparative study. Setting: Institute of Bio Medical Sciences (IBMS), Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Ojha Campus, Karachi. Period: December 2014 to May 2015. Materials and Methods: The experimental study was conducted on 50 albino wistar rats. 10 rats served as control rats while rest of the rats were experimentally induced for diabetes type 2 and were then randomized into 5 groups. One group was treated with insulin, one with metformin, and the one group with insulin-metformin combination for 4 weeks. All the treated groups were compared with untreated and control group. At the end of experiment, all the rats were sacrificed and livers were isolated and weighed. Percent liver weight calculated. Liver cut sections were processed and stained to analyze the correlation in percent fat cells in liver percent liver weight and in each treated and untreated diabetic groups, then the results were compared with control rats. Results: Data is analyzed by using SPSS Version 22.  Pearson correlation was used to identify correlation between the percent liver weight and percent fat cells in liver of control, treated and untreated diabetic groups. Significant and positive correlation (p-value < 0.01) in insulin treated group of diabetic rats was observed indicating that insulin has a role in causing fatty liver. Conclusion: Insulin treated diabetic group shows a significant positive correlation between percent fat cells of liver and percent liver weight.