Sustained expression of exendin-4 does not perturb glucose homeostasis, β-cell mass, or food intake in metallothionein-preproexendin transgenic mice

Activation of glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor signaling promotes glucose lowering via multiple mechanisms, including regulation of food intake, glucose-dependent insulin secretion, and stimulation of beta -cell mass. As GLP-1 exhibits a short t(1/2) in vivo, the biological consequences of prolonged GLP-1 receptor signaling remains unclear. To address this question, we have now generated metallothionein promoter-prepro exendin (MT-Ex) transgenic mice. MT-Ex mice process preproexendin correctly, as is made evident by detection of circulating plasma exendin-4 immunoreactivity using high pressure liquid chromatography and an exendin-4-specific radioimmunoassay, Despite elevated levels of exendin-4, fasting plasma glucose and glucose clearance following oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests are normal in MT-Ex mice. Induction of transgene expression significantly reduced glycemic excursion during both oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (p < 0.05) and increased levels of glucose-stimulated insulin following oral glucose administration (p < 0.05), Despite evidence that exendin-4 may induce beta -cell proliferation, beta -cell mass and islet histology were normal in MT-Ex mice. MT-Ex mice exhibited no differences in basal food intake or body weight; however, induction of exendin-4 expression was associated with reduced short term food ingestion (p < 0.05), In contrast, short term water intake was significantly reduced in the absence of zinc in fluid-restricted MT-Ex mice (p < 0.05), These findings illustrate that sustained elevation of circulating exendin-4 is not invariably associated with changes in glucose homeostasis, increased beta -cell mass, or reduction in food intake in mice in vivo.