Acute and chronic treatment of L-isoleucine ameliorates glucose metabolism in glucose-intolerant and diabetic mice

The administration of L-isoleucine (isoleucine) has been shown to induce hypoglycemia in normal rats. However, it remains to be elucidated whether isoleucine can improve the blood glucose level in glucose-intolerant or diabetic animals. In the present study, oral isoleucine significantly reduced the blood glucose level after an oral glucose challenge in normal mice, as well as in glucose-intolerant mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and db/db mice, a model of severe type 2 diabetes. Isoleucine treatment significantly augmented the blood insulin level after an oral glucose load in HFD mice, but not in normal or db/db mice, suggesting that its hypoglycemic activity was attributable to both insulinotropic and non-insulinotropic mechanisms. Chronic supplementation of isoleucine in mice on a high-fat/high-sucrose diet significantly reduced insulin release after an oral glucose challenge without any change in glucose tolerance curve, suggesting that isoleucine might have an insulin-sensitizing effect along with its acute hypoglycemic effect. These results indicate that both acute and chronic treatment with isoleucine is beneficial for glucose metabolism in glucose-intolerant and diabetic animals.