Aim: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition can reduce the body weight of mice maintained on a high-fat diet. The current study examined the effect of the ACE inhibitor, captopril (CAP), on the reversal of diet-induced obesity (DIO), insulin resistance and inflammation in mice. Materials and methods: DIO was produced in C57BL/6J male mice (n ¼ 30) by maintaining animals on a high-fat diet (w/w 21% fat) for 12 weeks. During the subsequent 12-week treatment period, the animals were allowed access to the high-fat diet and either water containing CAP (0.05 mg ml À1 ) or plain tap water (CON, control). Results: From the first week of treatment, food intake and body weight decreased in CAP-treated mice compared with CON mice. Both peripheral insulin sensitivity and hepatic insulin sensitivity were improved in CAP-treated mice compared with CON mice. CAP-treated mice had decreased absolute and relative liver and epididymal fat weights compared with CON mice. CAP-treated mice had higher plasma adiponectin and lower plasma leptin levels than CON mice. Relative to CON mice, CAP-treated mice had reduced adipose and skeletal muscle monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), adipose interleukin-6 (IL-6), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) mRNA expressions. Furthermore, CAP-treated mice had increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-g coactivator-1a (PGC-1a), long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCAD), hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and decreased lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mRNA expressions in the liver. Conclusion:The results of the current study indicate that in mice with DIO, CAP treatment reduced food intake and body weight, improved insulin sensitivity and decreased the mRNA expression of markers of inflammation. Thus, CAP may be a viable treatment for obesity, insulin resistance and inflammation.

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Previously identified correlations between circulating cortisol and serotonin levels with aggressive, fearful or impulsive behavior in dogs have led to the suggestion that these measures be assessed as screening tools to aid in the identification of individual dogs with aggressive or fearful tendencies in applied settings, such as shelters or breeding programs.Previous studies investigating relationships between peripheral serotonin or cortisol and behavioral measures have several limitations, including single-breed sample groups, small sample sizes, and inconsistent methods used to collect behavioral data. This study used previously validated questionnaires to investigate relationships between owner-reported histories of dogs' behavior and peripheral cortisol and serotonin measures collected upon presentation to a novel environment, in a mixed-breed and mixed-age sample of dogs. No notable relationships were found between these measures in this group, indicating that circulating cortisol and serotonin are poor candidates for use in applied behavioral assessments for mixed breed pet dogs of varying ages. Differences between results reported here and previous literature are discussed.