الفهرس 
Chapter 1 : Introduction and Aim of workOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
High fat diet feeding for 2 weeks followed by low dose STZ (HFD+STZ) resulted in a successful animal model representing the natural progression from obesity (evidenced by a Lee index > 0.3) to type II diabetes characterized by a significantly higher blood glucose level (>200 mg %) accompanied with partial insulin deficiency, and insulin resistance (evidenced by significantly higher HOMA-IR than control group). There was a decreased body weight gain in the presence of hyperphagia as a result of loss of the anabolic function of insulin and poor glycemic control.
The present study provided a further evidence that HFD+ STZ-induced hyperglycemia in rats is accompanied by increased levels of MDA ( a marker of lipid peroxidation) together with depleted levels of NO and the anti-apoptotic marker BCL-2 in the serum.
The results of the present study also revealed that L-arginine administration to obese diabetic rats for 4 weeks was able to significantly increase the lowered nitric oxide blood level and decrease the higher serum MDA level observed in obese diabetic group to nearly the control levels.
L-arginine administration produced a significantly lower serum level of TC, TGs and LDL-c with a significantly higher serum level of HDL-c as compared to the obese diabetic non treated group. However the levels of TC and HDL were still significantly higher and lower respectively when compared to the control rats. It has been suggested that the hypolipidemic effect of L-arginine is associated, at least in part, with an increase in NO level and a decrease in fatty acid oxidation.