ABSTRACT
Diabetic complications may in part be due to inflammation. Diabetes can also develop in non-obese people.Nonetheless, organ inflammation in non-obese type 2 diabetes mellitus animals has never been investigated. The GotoKakizaki rats were divided into two groups: diabetes and diabetes treated with metformin. The glycemia parameterswere then determined. Serum and internal organs, including the liver, kidney, and brain were collected to determinethe levels of inflammatory cytokine and mRNA expression. The research found an increase in interleukin-6 (IL-6)and IL-1β cytokine levels in the liver of the diabetic group, which corresponds with the mRNA expression of bothcytokines. The metformin group significantly reduces the mRNA expression of liver IL-6. In the kidney, there was anincrease in IL-6 cytokine levels in the diabetic group, while the metformin group could reduce the mRNA expressionlevel of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). In addition, there were IL-6 and TNF-α cytokines level increased in thebrain of the diabetic group. IL-1β mRNA expression levels increased in the diabetic group and were reduced by themetformin treatment. The metformin treatment reduced serum TNF-α cytokines. In summary, this study demonstratedthat internal organ inflammation in non-obese diabetic rats, which could provide evidence for organ inflammation,may potentially explain diabetic complications.