Effect of long‐term treatment with a small‐molecule glucokinase activator on glucose metabolism, lipid profiles and hepatic function

We investigated the long‐term effect of a glucokinase (GK) activator (GKA) on the changes in hepatic gene expression, glucose metabolism, lipid profiles and hepatic function in wild‐type mice and the haploinsufficiency of β‐cell‐specific GK mice on a high‐fat (HF) diet. Twenty weeks of GKA treatment had no effect on hepatic GK activity or expression of genes related to glucose or lipid metabolism, suggesting that chronic GK activation by GKA showed a sustained reduction of ambient blood glucose levels without causing significant impact on hepatic lipid and glucose metabolisms. Furthermore, GKA exerted glucose‐lowering efficacy lasted for up to 40 weeks without increasing bodyweight or exerting adverse effects on lipid metabolism or hepatic function in either genotype on the HF diet. The present results show that GKA is capable of chronically improving glucose metabolism in mice on the HF diet without exerting a harmful influence on their lipid profile or hepatic function. (J Diabetes Invest,doi: 10.1111/j.2040‐1124.2011.00103.x, 2011)