Lutz Thomas A
Institute of Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Physiol Behav. 2018 Aug 1;192:182-187. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.026. Epub 2018 Feb 14.
A large number of animal models are currently used in appetite and obesity research. Because the worldwide incidence of obesity continues to climb, it is imperative that animal models sharing characteristics of human obesity and its co-morbidities be used appropriately in the quest for novel preventions or treatments. There is probably no animal model, at least in rodents, that recapitulates all aspects of "common" human obesity and its comorbidities, but rodent models allow insight into specific mechanisms of disease or its consequences. Frequently used obesity models can be partitioned into different categories, the major ones being a) based on mutations or manipulations of one or a few individual genes or b) those in genetically intact animals exposed to obesogenic environments such as, e.g., being maintained on high-fat diets or being raised in small litters. Characteristics of these models include distinct phenotypes of obesity, hyperphagia or changes in energy metabolism, and frequent comorbidities of obesity, like hyperglycemia, insulin resistance or diabetes-like syndromes. This review which is based on a presentation given during the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior in July 2017 points out some observations and characteristics of rodent models in obesity and diabetes research. The choice of rodent models discussed here is subjective and based on the author's own experience or on fruitful discussions with colleagues about the pros and cons of specific models. Hence, this review, by no means, is meant to give a complete picture of rodent models used in this type of research, but the review tries to bring up some issues which, in the author's mind, may also be relevant for models not discussed here. For example, by discussing specific mouse and rat models, similarities and differences between mice and rats will be discussed that need to be considered to interpret experimental findings cautiously and in the context of the respective animal model. Knowing which animal model to use means, knowing its limitations.
目前，大量动物模型被用于食欲和肥胖研究。由于全球肥胖发病率持续攀升，因此在寻求新的预防或治疗方法时，必须恰当地使用具有人类肥胖及其合并症特征的动物模型。至少在啮齿动物中，可能没有一种动物模型能概括“常见”人类肥胖及其合并症的所有方面，但啮齿动物模型有助于深入了解疾病的特定机制或其后果。常用的肥胖模型可分为不同类别，主要包括：a）基于一个或几个单个基因的突变或操作；b）基因完整的动物暴露于致肥胖环境，例如喂食高脂饮食或在小窝中饲养。这些模型的特征包括肥胖、食欲亢进的独特表型或能量代谢变化，以及肥胖常见的合并症，如高血糖、胰岛素抵抗或糖尿病样综合征。本综述基于2017年7月在摄食行为研究学会年会上的一次报告，指出了啮齿动物模型在肥胖和糖尿病研究中的一些观察结果和特征。这里讨论的啮齿动物模型的选择是主观的，基于作者自己的经验或与同事就特定模型的优缺点进行的富有成效的讨论。因此，本综述绝不是要全面介绍这类研究中使用的啮齿动物模型，但该综述试图提出一些问题，在作者看来，这些问题可能也与未在此讨论的模型相关。例如，通过讨论特定的小鼠和大鼠模型，将讨论小鼠和大鼠之间的异同，在谨慎解释实验结果并结合各自动物模型的背景时需要考虑这些异同。知道使用哪种动物模型意味着要了解其局限性。
