REVIEW   

Minerva Endocrinologica 2020 September;45(3):243-63

DOI: 10.23736/S0391-1977.19.03058-X

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Rodent models of obesity

Michael DOULBERIS ^{1, 2} ✉, Apostolis PAPAEFTHYMIOU ³, Stergios A. POLYZOS ⁴, Panagiotis KATSINELOS ², Nikolaos GRIGORIADIS ⁵, David S. SRIVASTAVA ⁶, Jannis KOUNTOURAS ²

¹ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; ² Department of Internal Medicine, Second Medical Clinic, Ippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; ³ Department of Gastroenterology, 401 General Military Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece; ⁴ First Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; ⁵ Second Department of Neurology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; ⁶ Emergency Department, University Hospital Inselspital Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Obese or overweight people exceed one-third of the global population and obesity along with diabetes mellitus consist basic components of metabolic syndrome, both of which are known cardio-cerebrovascular risk factors with detrimental consequences. These data signify the pandemic character of obesity and the necessity for effective treatments. Substantial advances have been accomplished in preclinical research of obesity by using animal models, which mimic the human disease. In particular, rodent models have been widely used for many decades with success for the elucidation of the pathophysiology of obesity, since they share physiological and genetic components with humans and appear advantageous in their husbandry. The most representative rodents include the laboratory mouse and rat. Within this review, we attempted to consolidate the most widely used mice and rat models of obesity and highlight their strengths as well as weaknesses in a critical way. Our aim was to bridge the gap between laboratory facilities and patient’s bed and help the researcher find the appropriate animal model for his/her obesity research. This tactful selection of the appropriate model of obesity may offer more translational derived results. In this regard, we included, the main diet induced models, the chemical/mechanical ones, as well as a selection of monogenic or polygenic models.

KEY WORDS: Obesity; Rats; Animal models; Diabetes mellitus; Metabolic syndrome