OBJECTIVE

We aimed to evaluate the effect of light-dark cycle alteration and soft drink consumption on the acceleration of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) development among non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice model.

METHODS

We exposed female NOD and C57BL/6 mice from the age of 5 weeks to either adlib soft drink consumption and/or T20 light-dark cycle alteration until the development of diabetes, or the mice reached the age of 30 weeks. Each group consisted of 7-15 mice. We monitored weight, length, blood glucose level, and insulin autoantibody (IAA) levels weekly.

RESULTS

Out of 75 NOD and 22 C57BL/6 mice, 41 NOD mice developed diabetes, and 6 mice died between 7 and 8 weeks of age. The mean time to development of T1DM among NOD control mice was 20 weeks. The time to development of T1DM was accelerated by two weeks in the NOD mice exposed to light-dark cycle alteration, hazard ratio of 2.65,95th CI (0.70, 10.04) p = 0.15). The other groups developed T1DM, similar to the control group.

CONCLUSION

There was a trend toward earlier development of T1DM among NOD mice exposed to light-dark cycle alteration, but this difference was not statistically significant. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings using larger sample sizes and different animal species.