Western style diet high in fat and cholesterol content is believed to lead not only to obesity but also diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. While obese people are not yet diabetic, many develop insulin resistance (IR); namely, the body become less sensitive to insulin and more insulin is required to maintain normal glucose level. HZ-Bio has a cohort of animals on high fat and cholesterol diet. These animals gain weight over time (Fig. 1).

This cohort is further characterized by having reduced glucose disposal rate Kd (Fig. 2) and hyperinsulinemia (Fig. 3) compared to lean control upon an intravenous glucose tolerance test (ivGTT).