Fig. 5.

Maintained efficacy of metformin (Metf) in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed germfree mice. Male C57 BL/6 mice (6 wk old; n = 5 per condition) were maintained on autoclaved chow or irradiated HFD (IR-HFD) for 8 wk while being administered drinking water containing metformin or vehicle. All parameters were measured following euthanasia. Body weight and epididymal fat pad. Histologic scoring of section of liver. Mice were fasted overnight, and blood glucose and insulin were measured. The colon length and spleen weight were also measured. Serum macrophage chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) was measured by ELISA and overnight fasting. The mRNA was extracted from the colon and expression level of MCP-1, IL-6, CXCL1 and TNFα was analyzed by RT-PCR. The mRNA was extracted from adipose and expression level of MCP-1 and TNFα was analyzed by RT-PCR. The mRNA was extracted from liver and expression level of MCP-1 and CXCL1 was analyzed by RT-PCR. The mRNA was extracted from adipose and expression level of MCP-1 and TNFα was analyzed by RT-PCR. Data are shown as means ± SE. *Statistical significance (P < 0.05) by Student’s t test for HFD/metformin vs. HFD control.