Changes in body weight and lipid profile of mice treated with sodium butyrate and metformin

Previous animal studies have shown that butyrate (sodium butyrate,nab) administration can protect against diet-induced obesity. we investigated the effect of oral (1g/kg body weight/day) and intraperitoneal (0.5/kg body weight/day) administration of nab on body weight and lipid profile of mice. oral (400mg/kg body weight/day) and intraperitoneal (200mg/kg body weight/day) metformin was similarly administered as positive control. placebo was the drug vehicle (phosphate saline buffer). fifty seven mice (15-18 weeks old) were divided into three groups and administered freshly prepared nab (n=19),metformin (n=16) and placebo (n=16),respectively for 16 days. within each group half the mice were given the drug orally and half intraperitoneally. weights were recorded daily and serum lipids were measured from blood samples obtained at the end of the study. both oral (p=0.001) and intraperitoneal (p<0.001) metformin caused significant weight loss (7.56±2.47% and 8.72±2.75%,respectively) compared to placebo. oral nab also caused significant weight loss (4.77±3.49%) in mice as compared to placebo (1.81±2.89%) at p=0.04. however,there was no significant difference in weight change between intraperitoneal nab (4.08±2.65%) and placebo (4.78±2.23%) at p=0.85. additionally serum lipids were raised in all groups with significant weight loss. the most prominent change was elevated triglycerides (214.42±81.96 mg/dl) in nab treated mice (p-0.01) and raised cholesterol (189.01±39.89 mg/dl at p=0.04) in metformin treated mice as compared to placebo. to conclude nab,causes significant weight loss in mice along with raised lipids. however oral nab seems to be more effective than intraperitoneal butyrate. © copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.