I am pretty confused after reading these studies about this topic.
http://www.fasebj.org/content/23/1/271.
Short mice are treated with a high fat diet for 8 weeks, resulting in fetal overgrowth.
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/en.2010-0098
Smaller fetuses in mice are fed with HFD for 16 weeks.
It seems that several aspects may interfere fetal growth in HFD mice- the level of leptin, insulin, IGF-1, adiponectin, placental nutrient transport, the expression of IGF-1 and IGF-2, trophoblast invasion and placental vascularization etc.,
I’m not sure whether HFD induced obesity mice are a good FGR model? How can I attain a stable FGR phenotype?
Hi Harry,
When deciding on an animal model to use you really need to start with what you are trying to find out. There are a number of growth restriction models around which use a variety of species. Do you want a foetus that has been restricted throughout gestation or do you want to simulate placental insufficiency and want to produce a foetus with asymmetrical growth restriction?
are you looking at catch up growth after birth? Are you looking at kidney development?
there are a lot of factors to consider when choosing your model. Rat and mouse kidneys continue development after birth whereas sheep and guinea pig for example, have pretty much finished kidney development as a foetus.
I developed a model of FGR in the guinea pig as I was interested in restriction of placental blood flow as the causative factor.
I do not have experience with the HFD model, it may be perfect for what you need but you should look at the other models to be sure which one is appropriate.
I agree with Anita, there are several models, that develop slightly, or very, different phenotypes. It is an obvious statement, but you need to look carefully at the diets, which actually differ quite widely, and how they induce the phenotype - eg calorific equivalence, dietary component equivalence, different trace elements etc.
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