Figure 1. Experimental timeline.

All rats were entered into a 21 week intervention and were provided with either control (5% fat w/w) or a HFD (23% fat w/w) ad libitum. All rats on the HFD had osmotic minipumps implanted s.c. to deliver vehicle (HFD + sham), 100 mg kg⁻¹ STZ (HFD + lower STZ) or 120 mg kg⁻¹ STZ (HFD + higher STZ) between weeks 4 and 6. During this 2 week period, non‐fasting blood glucose () was monitored daily to track development of hyperglycaemia. Body weight and non‐fasting glucose concentrations () were assessed once per week in all rats for the duration of the experiment. GTT (1 g of glucose per kg body weight) were performed in weeks 0, 4, 6, 10, 14 and 18. A meal challenge (MC) test was performed in week 20 by providing overnight fasted rats with their respective diet to eat ad libitum for 30 min. Prior to the experimental protocol, all rats were acclimatised to the plantar aesthesiometer set‐up to enable weekly assessment of paw withdrawal threshold () once per week across the 21 week time course. All animals were killed in week 21 and tissues were collected for histological analysis. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]