Obesity Rodent Models Applied to Research with Food Products and Natural Compounds

Abstract

Obesity is a disease whose incidence has increased over the last few decades. Despite being a multifactorial disease, obesity results essentially from excessive intake of high-calorie foods associated with low physical activity. The demand for a pharmacological therapy using natural compounds as an alternative to synthetic drugs has increased. Natural compounds may have few adverse effects and high economic impact, as most of them can be extracted from underexploited plant species and food by-products. To test the potential anti-obesogenic effects of new natural substances, the use of preclinical animal models of obesity has been an important tool, among which rat and mouse models are the most used. Some animal models are monogenic, such as the db/db mice, ob/ob mice, Zucker fatty rat and Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty rat. There are also available chemical models using the neurotoxin monosodium glutamate that induces lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamus nucleus, resulting in the development of obesity. However, the most widely used are the obesity models induced by high-fat diets. The aim of this review was to compile detail studies on the anti-obesity effects of natural compounds or their derivatives on rodent models of obesity as well as a critical analysis of the data.

Effects of Sulforaphane and Chlorophyl a in a Western Diet-Induced Obesity Model

“…Despite this evidence, studies addressing the anti-obesogenic effects of SFN and especially Chlo.a are still scarce and vary between treatment protocols. The use of rodents fed hypercaloric diets is one of the most used animal models of induced obesity [36,37], and the Western diet is used as a robust model of human obesity [38]. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential anti-obesogenic effects of SFN and Chlo.a in mice fed with a Western diet rich in sugar and cholesterol using a voluntary ingestion treatment protocol.…”

The Related Metabolic Diseases and Treatments of Obesity

“…Many conditions can cause obesity, including a sedentary lifestyle, overnutrition, socioeconomic status, environment, and genetic factors [ 5 ]. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increased rate of obesity due to increased sedentary time and food consumption, and lack of socioeconomic activity [ 6 ].…”