Hyperglycemic Clamp and Hypoglycemic Clamp in Conscious Mice

Summary

A hyperglycemic clamp is used for measuring insulin release with a maintained higher blood glucose concentration. A hypoglycemic clamp is for measuring glucose production induced by counter-regulatory responses. Both methods use the same surgical procedure. Here, we present a clamp technique to assess systemic glucose metabolism.

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is caused by insufficient insulin release from the pancreatic β-cells (Type1 DM) and insulin sensitivity in muscles, liver, and adipose tissues (Type2 DM). Insulin injection treats DM patients but leads to hypoglycemia as a side effect. Cortisol and catecholamines are released to activate glucose production from the liver to recover hypoglycemia, called counter-regulatory responses (CRR). In DM research using rodent models, glucose tolerance tests and 2-deoxy-glucose injection are used to measure insulin release and CRR, respectively. However, blood glucose concentrations change persistently during experiments, causing difficulties in assessing net insulin release and CRR. This article describes a method in which blood glucose is kept at 250 mg/dL or 50 mg/dL in conscious mice to compare the release of insulin and CRR hormones, respectively.

Polyethylene tubing is implanted in the mice's carotid artery and jugular vein, and the mice are allowed to recover from the surgery. The jugular vein tubing is connected to a Hamilton syringe with a syringe pump to enable insulin or glucose infusion at a constant and variable rate. The carotid artery tubing is for blood collection. For the hyperglycemic clamp, 30% glucose is infused into the vein, and blood glucose levels are measured from the arterial blood every 5 min or 10 min. The infusion rate of 30% glucose is increased until the blood glucose level becomes 250 mg/dL. Blood is collected to measure insulin concentrations. For hypoglycemic clamp, 10 mU/kg/min insulin is infused together with 30% glucose, whose infusion rate is variable to maintain 50 mg/dL of blood glucose level. Blood is collected to measure counter-regulatory hormones when both glucose infusion and blood glucose reach a steady state. Both hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic clamps have the same surgical procedure and experimental setups. Thus, this method is useful for researchers of systemic glucose metabolism.

Introduction

Glucose is an important source of energy for cells, and a lack of glucose can lead to a variety of symptoms and complications. In the event of low glucose (hypoglycemia, generally less than 70 mg/dL in fasting blood glucose level, but should not be determined by a single value¹), the most common symptoms include weakness, confusion, sweating, and headache. It can also disrupt cerebral function and increase the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality². Conversely, hyperglycemia is a medical condition in which the plasma glucose concentration exceeds normal levels (generally > 126 mg/dL in fasting blood glucose lev....

Protocol

All procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Kumamoto University.

NOTE: For pain relief, ibuprofen was given in drinking water (0.11 mg/mL) for 48 h, and buprenorphine (0.05-0.1 mg/kg i.p.) was given 30 min before surgery. Sterile conditions include gloves, masks, and autoclaved instruments sterilized with ethylene oxide between animals. The surgery was performed on a heating pad set at 37 °C and covered by a new lab mat for each animal. Befor.......

Discussion

The method described here is a simple one that can be done with pipette tips, syringes, and other items found in ordinary laboratories. Although researchers may need to purchase additional tubes and pumps, expensive equipment is not needed. Thus, this protocol of catheterization and clamp is easier to start compared to previous reports^12,13,14.

The clamp technique was developed around 1970 and has bee.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Adhesive glue	Henkel AG & Co. KGaA	LOCTITE 454
ELISA kit (C-peptide)	Morinaga Institute of Bilogical Science Inc	M1304	Mouse C-peptide ELISA Kit
ELISA kit (insulin)	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	633-03411	LBIS Mouse Insulin ELISA Kit (U-type)
Handy glucose meter	Nipro Co.	11-777	Free Style Freedom Lite
Insulin (100U/ml)	Eli Lilly & Co.	428021014	Humulin R (100U/ml)
Mouse	Japan SLC Inc.	C57BL/6NCrSlc	C57BL
Suture	Natsume seisakusho	C-23S-560 No.2	Sterilized
Syringe Pump	Pump Systems Inc.	NE-1000
Synthetic suture	VÖMEL	HR-17
Tubing1	AS ONE Corporation	9-869-01	LABORAN(R) Silicone Tube
Tubing2	Fisher Scientific	427400	BD Intramedic PE Tubing
Tubing3	IGARASHI IKA KOGYO CO., LTD.	size5	Polyethylene tubing size5