The Young Göttingen Minipig as a Model of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity: Influence of Diet and Gender

Abstract

Objective: Gender and sex hormones influence the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome in humans and G€ ottingen minipigs. The aim of this study was to investigate possible gender differences in the metabolic response to a high energy diet in young G€ ottingen minipigs as a model of childhood/ adolescent obesity. Design and Methods: Nine-week-old male and female G€ ottingen minipigs were fed restrictedly on either a low energy diet (LED) or a high energy diet (HED) for 4 months (n ¼ 5-7). Parameters of interest were fat percentage, visceral fat mass, plasma lipids and glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and b-cell function measured by oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests. Results: At 11 to 12 weeks of age, after 2 weeks diet feeding, both genders on HED had increased fat percentage, glucose intolerance, decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased plasma levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (TGs). There was no gender difference in body weight (BW) or fat percentage, but males had lower glucose tolerance than females. After 3.5 to 4 months on the diets, the pigs on HED had increased BW, fat percentage, and visceral fat mass and were more glucose intolerant and insulin resistant than pigs on LED. Also increases in plasma cholesterol and TG levels were observed in the pigs on HED. Females had higher fat percentage and more visceral fat, were more insulin resistant, and had a more unfavorable lipid profile compared with males independent of diet. Conclusion: In conclusion, the young G€ ottingen minipig, and especially the female gender, seems to be a potential model for diet induced childhood/adolescent obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Comparative aspects of rodent and nonrodent animal models for mechanistic and translational diabetes research

“…In addition, 1% to 2% purified cholesterol was added in most diet-induced obesity pig models. High-fat diet feeding with the addition of cholesterol led to dyslipidemia (elevated total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein) [42,163,168,[171][172][173] and to a lesser extent without the addition of cholesterol [167,170,174,175]. Dietary-induced hepatic steatosis was reported in minipig breeds [42,174] and domestic pigs [173].…”

“…Body weight was significantly increased compared to normal diet feeding, with its magnitude depending on the feeding duration, diet composition, and energy intake [42,163,167,[170][171][172][173][174][175]. In a few of the studies, body composition was determined, showing that the animals developed a significantly elevated fat mass as a consequence of high-energy intake [167,170,175].…”

“…However, studies vary in terms of numerous parameters, such as pig breed (domestic vs. minipig), age (adolescent vs. adult), gender, diet type (purified vs. grain-based or mix), diet composition (carbohydrate, fat, protein source, and content), energy content (metabolizable energy/kg food), feeding regimen (restricted vs. ad libitum), calorie supply per day, and feeding duration, making comparisons difficult [42,161,163,[167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176]. In addition, not all phenotypic characteristics relevant for metabolic syndrome are evaluated in each study.…”

Functional network analysis of obese and lean Göttingen minipigs elucidates changes in oxidative and inflammatory networks in obese pigs

“…For example, they can obtain an overweight of more than 100 % and a body fat percentage of around 40-50 %, which is more than what is seen in diet induced rodent models and comparable to what is seen in obese humans [8,19]. Furthermore, studies with Göttingen minipigs fed with a high-fat diet indicate that they develop early pre-diabetic changes similar to those found in humans [2,12]. However, qualified selection of parameters to measure and their individual power in predicting clinical efficacy or safety remain a major challenge in pre-clinical drug development.…”

Factors contributing to the variation of the fearful withdrawal response to humans in minipigs bred at ICG SB R

“…��л��евые слова�� мини-свин��и; реакция удаления от �еловека; факторы среды; взаимодействие «генотип -среда»; тип окраски. Факторы изменчивости мотивированной страхом реакции удаления от человека у мини-свиней селекции ициг со ран М иниатюрные (мини-) свиньи представляют но-вый вид лабораторных животных, роль которых в качестве модельного объекта для медико-био-логических исследований в последние годы существенно выросла (Lind et al, 2005;Ашуев и др., 2007;Тихонов, 2010;Sondergaard et al, 2012;Christoffersen et al, 2013;Ни-китин, 2014). Неслучайно поэтому проводится детальное изучение анатомо-морфологических, физиологических, биохимических и иммунологических признаков у мини-свиней отечественных и зарубежных пород, необходимое для накопления базальных сведений о биологии этих животных (Капанадзе, Ашуев, 2007;Simianer, Kohn, 2010;Тихонов, 2010;Станкова, Капанадзе, 2012).…”