Table 5.

Comparison of the UCD-T2DM rat with human T2DM and the ZDF rat model

Characteristic	Human T2DM	UCD-T2DM Rat	ZDF Rat
Origin of obesity	Polygenic	Polygenic	Monogenic leptin receptor mutation
Inherited β-cell defect	Likely	Yes	Yes
Age of T2DM onset	Adolescent to adult	Males: 183±10 days; females: 286±17 days	Males: 60–90 days
Gender-specific onset	No	Female onset approximately 3 mo after males	Females develop diabetes only on a high-fat, high-sugar diet
Fertility	Preserved	Preserved	Infertile
Plasma TG elevation	Usually moderate	Moderate	Severe
Liver and muscle TG accumulation	Yes	Yes	Yes

ZDF, Zucker diabetic fatty.