Purposes: Our aim was to investigate the effects of selective celiac branch vagotomy on food intake and glycemic control after ileal transposition (IT) and the possible roles of the vagus on the improvement of diabetes.
Materials and methods: Forty non-obese rats with diabetes underwent either IT, IT + celiac branch vagotomy (ITV), sham IT (SI), or sham IT + celiac branch vagotomy (SIV). They were pair fed, and the food intake, body weight, fasting plasma glucose, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) level were monitored. The number of activated pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons and POMC-derived peptides were measured after sacrifice.
Results: The fasting glucose level of the ITV group was higher (7.0 ± 0.7 mmol/L vs. 5.7 ± 0.3, P = 0.01), and the area under the curve of the oral glucose tolerance test (AUCOGTT) value was greater than that of the IT group (1101.8 ± 90.3 (mmol/l) min vs. 986.9 ± 47.7 (mmol/l) min, P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in the postprandial GLP-1 level between these two groups, but the number of activated neurons in the ITV group was less than that of the IT group (10.3 ± 2.1 vs. 14.9 ± 2.3, P < 0.01), while the relative content level of POMC-derived peptides in the ITV group was half that of the IT group (P < 0.01).
Conclusions: The celiac branches of the vagus might contribute to less eating and improvement of diabetes after IT. The activating vagus strategy might be a goal for the treatment of diabetes.
Keywords: Blood glucose; Food intake; Surgery; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Vagus nerve.