Kaiser Nurit, Cerasi Erol, Leibowitz Gil
Endocrinology and Metabolism Service, Department of Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Methods Mol Biol. 2012;933:89-102. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-068-7_7.
Insulin deficiency is the underlying cause of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes. The gerbil Psammomys obesus (P. obesus) is a naturally insulin resistant rodent with tendency to develop diet-induced hyperglycemia associated with obesity. P. obesus does not exhibit hyperglycemia in its natural desert habitat, feeding on low caloric vegetation. However, when fed regular laboratory chow containing higher caloric density, the animals develop moderate obesity and hyperglycemia. Diabetes development and progression is very fast in P. obesus. The animals reach the irreversible hypoinsulinemic stage of the disease, in which a marked reduction of β-cell mass is apparent, within 4-6 weeks of high caloric diet. The present review describes the P. obesus of the Hebrew University colony, with emphasis on its use for the study of β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes.
胰岛素缺乏是2型糖尿病高血糖的根本原因。沙鼠欧氏肥尾沙鼠（P. obesus）是一种天然胰岛素抵抗的啮齿动物，有发展为与肥胖相关的饮食诱导性高血糖的倾向。欧氏肥尾沙鼠在其自然沙漠栖息地以低热量植被为食时不会出现高血糖。然而，当喂食含有较高热量密度的常规实验室饲料时，这些动物会出现中度肥胖和高血糖。欧氏肥尾沙鼠糖尿病的发展和进展非常迅速。在高热量饮食4 - 6周内，这些动物就会进入疾病的不可逆低胰岛素血症阶段，此时β细胞数量明显减少。本综述描述了希伯来大学种群的欧氏肥尾沙鼠，重点介绍了其在2型糖尿病β细胞功能障碍研究中的应用。
