Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT.
USTAR Applied Nutrition Research, Utah State University, Logan, UT.
Adv Nutr. 2018 May 1;9(3):263-271. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmy002.
Rodent models have been invaluable for biomedical research. Preclinical investigations with rodents allow researchers to investigate diseases by using study designs that are not suitable for human subjects. The primary criticism of preclinical animal models is that results are not always translatable to humans. Some of this lack of translation is due to inherent differences between species. However, rodent models have been refined over time, and translatability to humans has improved. Transgenic animals have greatly aided our understanding of interactions between genes and disease and have narrowed the translation gap between humans and model animals. Despite the technological innovations of animal models through advances in genetics, relatively little attention has been given to animal diets. Namely, developing diets that replicate what humans eat will help make animal models more relevant to human populations. This review focuses on commonly used rodent diets that are used to emulate the Western dietary pattern in preclinical studies of obesity and type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic liver disease, maternal nutrition, and colorectal cancer.
啮齿动物模型在生物医学研究中具有不可估量的价值。使用啮齿动物进行临床前研究，研究人员可以通过不适合人类受试者的研究设计来研究疾病。对临床前动物模型的主要批评是，结果并不总是适用于人类。这种缺乏转化的部分原因是物种之间存在固有差异。然而，啮齿动物模型随着时间的推移得到了改进，并且与人类的可转化性得到了提高。转基因动物极大地帮助我们理解了基因与疾病之间的相互作用，并缩小了人类和模型动物之间的转化差距。尽管通过遗传学的进步使动物模型的技术创新取得了进展，但相对较少关注动物的饮食。也就是说，开发出能够复制人类饮食的饮食将有助于使动物模型与人类群体更相关。本综述重点介绍了在肥胖和 2 型糖尿病、非酒精性肝病、孕产妇营养和结直肠癌的临床前研究中，常用于模拟西方饮食模式的常用啮齿动物饮食。
