Chronic treatment with the thiazolidinedione, MCC-555, is associated with reductions in nitric oxide synthase activity and β-cell apoptosis in the pancreas of the Zucker Diabetic Fatty rat

Summary. The Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat is a model of impaired insulin sensitivity arising from hyperphagia owing to a mutation in the leptin receptor. In time, young ZDF rats, which are not initially diabetic, develop impaired pancreatic β‐cell function leading to apoptotic cell death. This results in an inability to fully compensate for the reduction in insulin sensitivity with hypersecretion of insulin. Young, pre‐diabetic ZDF rats were...