Elderly rats fed with a high-fat high-sucrose diet developed sex-dependent metabolic syndrome regardless of long-term metformin and liraglutide treatment

AIM/INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of early antidiabetic therapy in reversing metabolic changes caused by high-fat and high-sucrose diet (HFHSD) in both sexes. METHODS: Elderly Sprague–Dawley rats, 45 weeks old, were randomized into four groups: a control group fed on the standard diet (STD), one group fed the HFHSD, and two groups fed the HFHSD along with long-term treatment of either metformin (HFHSD+M) or liraglutide (HFHSD+L). Antidiabetic treatment started 5 weeks after the introduction of the diet and lasted 13 weeks until the animals were 64 weeks old. RESULTS: Unexpectedly, HFHSD-fed animals did not gain weight but underwent significant metabolic changes. Both antidiabetic treatments produced sex-specific effects, but neither prevented the onset of prediabetes nor diabetes. CONCLUSION: Liraglutide vested benefits to liver and skeletal muscle tissue in males but induced signs of insulin resistance in females.