Exenatide improves liver mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance by reducing oxidative stress in high fat diet-induced obese mice

Oxidative stress is associated with obesity and may be accompanied by liver insulin resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction. Decreased mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymatic activities and decreased insulin metabolic signaling may promote these maladaptive changes. In this context, exenatide has been reported to reduce hepatic lipid deposition, improve insulin sensitivity and improve mitochondrial dysfunction. We hypothesized that exenatide would attenuate mitochondrial dysfunction by reducing hepatic lipid deposition, blunting oxidant stress and promoting insulin metabolic signaling in a high fat diet-induced model of obesity and insulin resistance. Sixteen-week-old male C57BL/6 diet-induced obese (DIO) mices and age-matched standard diet (STD) mices were treated with exenatide (10 μg/kg twice a day) for 28 days. Compared with untreated STD mice, untreated DIO mice exhibited deposited excessive lipid in liver and produced the oxidative stress in conjunction with insulin resistance, abnormal hepatic cells and mitochondrial histoarchitecture, mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced organism metabolism. Exenatide reduced hepatic steatosis, decreased oxidative stress, and improved insulin resistance in DIO mice, in concert with improvements in the insulin metabolic signaling, mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymatic activation, adenine nucleotide production, organism metabolism and weight gain. Results support the hypothesis that exenatide reduces hepatic cells and mitochondrial structural anomaly and improves insulin resistance in concert with improvements in insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial function activation, concomitantly with reductions in oxidative stress.