THE STUDY AND METHODS USED TO INDUCE OBESITY IN LABORATORY ANIMALS: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONCERNS

Abstract

Obesity is defined as a body mass index of over 30 kg / m2 and represents a significant health risk because it increases the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, stroke and colon cancer. The study of the mechanisms by which obesity induces physiological dysfunctions can be facilitated by the use of an animal experimental model. Induction of obesity in laboratory animals can be accomplished by administering monosodium glutamate that causes lesion of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, by administering hypercaloric diets and using genetically modified rodents. The animal model should reproduce the genesis of obesity and its pathophysiological mechanisms encountered in humans. In the obesity study, hormonal parameters such as leptin and adiponectin can be quantified, also the degree of differentiation of adipose tissue in brown or white and anthropometric measurements, such as: Body Mass Index (BMI), Obesity Index (OI), and Specific Weight Gain Rates (g / kg) are performed.

Keywords

• obesity, hypercaloric diets, anthropometric measurements, obesity index