Reduced white adipose tissue mass and insulin sensitivity in IL-7 overexpressing mice.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Perigonadal WAT mass in transgenic mice and control animals. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM of 7 WT mice (white bars) and 8 Tg IL-7 mice (black bars). (<b>B</b>) Adipocyte diameter distribution of 3 WT (white circles) and 3 Tg IL-7 (black circles). (<b>C</b>) Ratio of total triglycerides to total DNA (in pg/ng). Results are expressed as mean ± SEM of 3 WT mice (white bars) and 5 Tg IL-7 mice (black bars). (<b>D</b>) Glucose tolerance test: Blood samples for glucose level determination were taken from each individual animal. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM of 5 WT (white circles) and 5 Tg IL-7 (black circles). (<b>E</b>) Insulin tolerance test: Glycaemia were individually measured at the indicated times. Data are presented as mean percentage of basal glycemia (t = 0 min) from average value ± SEM from 5 WT (white circles) and 5 Tg IL-7 (black circles). (<b>F & G</b>) <i>In vivo</i> hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamps were performed using [3-³H] glucose and 2-deoxy-D-[1-¹⁴C] glucose (2DG) for the estimation of whole body glucose fluxes (<b>F</b>) and tissue glucose uptake (<b>G</b>), respectively. The uptake of glucose was determined in one red fiber-type of muscle (<i>Soleus</i>, S), one white fiber-type of muscle (<i>Tibialis anterior</i>, TA), inguinal SCAT, perigonadal WAT, and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM of 5 WT (white bars) and 5 Tg IL-7 (black bars). Statistically significant differences between the groups are indicated as <b>^*</b><i>p</i><0.05 and <b>^**</b><i>p</i><0.01.