FIGURE 3.

Metformin treatment decreases the intra‐abdominal and liver fat accumulation in eNOS^−/− mice fed a HFD. (a) Experimental design. eNOS^−/− mice were divided into three groups: (i) the baseline group fed a normal chow diet (ND); (ii) the Western group fed a HFD for 8 weeks; and (iii) the HFD + Met group: mice fed a HFD with simultaneous Met treatment administered in drinking water (dose of 50 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks. Then body fat and liver fat analyzed in vivo and ex vivo was performed. (b) Examples of whole‐body Dixon images and in vivo voxel‐guided ¹H‐MRS acquired with 3‐T MRI of treated and untreated mice. (c) Quantification of the intra‐abdominal and liver fat accumulated in all groups at 8 weeks (n = 6–8/group). (d) Correlation between intra‐abdominal fat and percentage liver fat fraction at the 8‐week time point (n = 6–8/group). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical differences are denoted by *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Correlation data were analyzed with a two‐tailed nonparametric Spearman test. eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; HFD, high fat diet; Met, metformin; MRS, magnetic resonance spectroscopy.