Fig. 2

a Expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism and inflammation. Data are presented as mean ± SE. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 for comparison between the control and STZ group and ^# p < 0.05, ^## p < 0.01 for comparison between the STZ group and treatment groups. GAPDH glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, PPARγ peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ, SREBP1 sterol regulatory element-binding protein, NFκβ nuclear factor kappa β, FAS fatty acid synthase, ACSL long chain acyl CoA synthetases, MCAT malonyl-CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase, TNFα tumor necrosis factor α. b Diagrammatic representation of the possible mechanism of metformin and flax and fish oil on the lipid metabolism and inflammatory cytokines. PPARγ peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ, SREBP sterol regulatory element-binding protein, NFκβ nuclear factor kappa β, FAS fatty acid synthase, ACSL long chain acyl CoA synthetases, MCAT malonyl-CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase, TNFα tumor necrosis factor α, up arrow up-regulation, down arrow down-regulation