Characterization of <i>ob/ob</i>-luc mice.

<p>A) Weight increases significantly with age in <i>ob/ob</i>-luc mice consistent with the original <i>ob/ob</i> mouse model on the B6 black background. As early as week 8 the <i>ob/ob</i>-luc mice are 2.5 times the weight of their lean control counterparts. Blood was taken from fasting mice following imaging to measure B) glucose and C) insulin. Glucose levels in <i>ob/ob</i>-luc mice (closed symbols) are significantly higher than lean controls (open symbols) at week 8 (p<0.001, t-test). As the <i>ob/ob</i>-luc mice age the glucose levels decrease and reach similar levels as lean controls by week 45. Insulin levels in <i>ob/ob</i>-luc mice increase with age while insulin levels in lean mice remain stable with age. Both glucose and insulin levels follow similar trends as normal <i>ob/ob</i> mice, indicating that the additional genetic manipulation (albino and MIP-luc) did not affect the physical characteristics of the <i>ob/ob</i> model. D) There is a good correlation (R² = 0.79) between plasma insulin levels and <i>in vivo</i> BLI measurements.