Meal-induced hormone responses in a rat model of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is the most effective treatment for morbid obesity and remission of associated type 2 diabetes, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a rat model for RYGB surgery that allows repeated measurement of meal-induced changes in gut and pancreatic hormones via chronic venous catheters. Male Sprague Dawley rats made obese on a palatable high-fat diet were subjected to RYGB or sham surgery and compared with chow-fed, lean controls. Hormonal responses to a mixed-liquid test meal were examined by frequent blood sampling through chronically implanted jugular catheters in freely behaving rats, 3-4 months after surgery, when RYGB rats had significantly reduced body weight and fat mass compared with sham-operated rats. Hyperleptinemia, basal hyperinsulinemia, and hyperglycemia as well as postprandial glucose intolerance seen in sham-operated, obese rats were completely reversed by RYGB and no longer different from lean controls. Postprandial increases in glucagon-like peptide-1, peptide YY, and amylin as well as suppression of ghrelin levels were all significantly augmented in RYGB rats compared with both sham-operated obese and lean control rats. Thus, our rat model replicates most of the salient hormonal and glycemic changes reported in obese patients after RYGB, with the addition of amylin to the list of potential candidate hormones involved in hypophagia, weight loss, and remission of diabetes. The model will be useful for elucidating the specific peripheral and central mechanisms involved in the suppression of appetite, loss of body weight, and remission of type 2 diabetes.