CHRONIC SODIUM FLUORIDE INTAKE PROMOTES CHANGES IN INSULIN SIGNALING AND INFLAMMATORY PATHWAYS IN THE SKELETAL MUSCLE OF RATS

This study aimed to investigate the final step of insulin signaling and the relationship between the inflammatory pathway and insulin signal attenuation in the gastrocnemius muscle (GM) of rats chronically treated with NaF. Thirty-two seven-weekold male Wistar rats were randomly distributed into 2 groups: a control group, which was treated with drinking water without fluoride; and a fluoride group, which received drinking water with NaF and F present in their food pellets (total fluoride intake= 4.0 mg/ kg body weight/day). After six weeks, the following were measured in the GM: content of protein kinase B (Akt), inhibitor of kappa B kinase (kKa/ß), tumor necrosis factora (TNF-a), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) by western blotting; phosphorylation status of Akt threonine, Akt serine, kKa/ß, and JNK by western blotting; and expression of GLUT4 mRNA by real-time PCR. The fluoridetreated rats showed a decrease (p