Obesity-associated alterations in glucose metabolism are reversed by chronic bilateral stimulation of the abdominal vagus nerve

This article contains Supplementary Data online at http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.2337/db16-0847/-/DC1.; Acute vagal stimulation modifies glucose and insulin metabolism, but the effect of chronic bilateral vagal stimulation is not known. Our aim was to quantify the changes in whole body and organ-specific insulin sensitivities, 12 weeks after permanent, bilateral, vagal stimulation performed at the abdominal level in adult mini-pigs. In 15 adult mini-pigs, stimulating electrodes were placed around the dorsal and ventral vagi using laparoscopy and connected to a dual channel stimulator placed subcutaneously. Animals were divided into three groups based on stimulation and body weight i.e. lean non-stimulated, obese non-stimulated and obese-stimulated. Twelve weeks after surgery, glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity were measured using PET during an isoglycemic clamp. Mean whole body insulin sensitivity was lower by 34% (P