Elderly rats fed with a high-fat high-sucrose diet developed sex-dependent metabolic syndrome regardless of long-term metformin and liraglutide treatment.

Aim/introduction: The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of early antidiabetic therapy in reversing metabolic changes caused by high-fat and high-sucrose diet (HFHSD) in both sexes.
Methods: Elderly Sprague-Dawley rats, 45 weeks old, were randomized into four groups: a control group fed on the standard diet (STD), one group fed the HFHSD, and two groups fed the HFHSD along with long-term treatment of either metformin (HFHSD+M) or liraglutide (HFHSD+L). Antidiabetic treatment started 5 weeks after the introduction of the diet and lasted 13 weeks until the animals were 64 weeks old.
Results: Unexpectedly, HFHSD-fed animals did not gain weight but underwent significant metabolic changes. Both antidiabetic treatments produced sex-specific effects, but neither prevented the onset of prediabetes nor diabetes.
Conclusion: Liraglutide vested benefits to liver and skeletal muscle tissue in males but induced signs of insulin resistance in females.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2023 Ivić, Zjalić, Blažetić, Fenrich, Labak, Scitovski, Szűcs, Ducza, Tábi, Bagamery, Szökő, Vuković, Rončević, Mandić, Debeljak, Berecki, Balog, Seres-Bokor, Sztojkov-Ivanov, Hajagos-Tóth, Gajović, Imširović, Bakula, Mahiiovych, Gaspar, Vari and Heffer.)