Considerations to maximize fat mass gain in a mouse model of diet-induced weight gain

K. C. Carpenter, K. Strohacker, B. K. McFarlin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mouse experimental models of diet-induced weight gain are commonly used as analogs to human obesity; however, a wide variety of feeding methods have been used and the most effective way to maximize weight gain is not known. Maximizing weight gain may allow for a reduction in the number of animals required for a given experiment. The purpose of this study was how to cause the greatest amount of weight gain in CD-1 mice by modifying the composition and source of their diet. To accomplish this goal, we completed two experiments: (1) Effect of dietary macronutrient fat intake (60% (HF60), 45% (HF45), 30% (HF30), or 13.5% (CON) fat diet for 18 weeks); and (2) Effect of 1:1 mixed HF60 and CON diets. Outcome measures included food intake, body mass, and body composition, which were measured bi-weekly and statistically analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA). In Experiment 1, the greatest increase in body and fat mass was observed in HF60 (36%) and HF45 (29%) compared with HF30 and CON (P<0.05). In Experiment 2, HF+stock diet (SK) gained 25% more body mass and 70% more fat mass than HF (P<0.05). Collectively, these findings suggest that using a high-fat based diet (>45% calories from fat), mixed with a stock diet, results in substantially more weight gain over a similar period, of time, which would allow an investigator to use ~40% fewer animals in their experimental model.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)266-273
Number of pages8
JournalLaboratory Animals
Volume47
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The present study was partially supported by graduate student grants from the Texas Obesity Research Center (Houston, TX, USA) to Carpenter and Strohacker. All of the authors listed contributed to the design, collection, analysis, and preparation of the present manuscript.

Keywords

  • Dietary fat
  • Disease
  • Mixed diets
  • Mouse diet-induced weight gain
  • Obesity

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