High fat, low carbohydrate diet limit fear and aggression in Göttingen minipigs

High fat, low carbohydrate diets have become popular, as short-term studies show that such diets are effective for reducing body weight, and lowering the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. There is growing evidence from both humans and other animals that diet affects behaviour and intake of fat has been linked, positively and negatively, with traits such as exploration, social interaction, anxiety and fear. Animal models with high translational value can help provide relevant and important information in elucidating potential effects of high fat, low carbohydrate diets on human behaviour. Twenty four young, male Göttingen minipigs were fed either a high fat/cholesterol, low carbohydrate diet or a low fat, high carbohydrate/sucrose diet in contrast to a standard low fat, high carbohydrate minipig diet. Spontaneous behaviour was observed through video recordings of home pens and test-related behaviours were recorded during tests involving animal-human contact and reaction towards a novel object. We showed that the minipigs fed a high fat/cholesterol, low carbohydrate diet were less aggressive, showed more non-agonistic social contact and had fewer and less severe skin lesions and were less fearful of a novel object than minipigs fed low fat, high carbohydrate diets. These results found in a porcine model could have important implications for general health and wellbeing of humans and show the potential for using dietary manipulations to reduce aggression in human society

Conclusiones

Los habitantes de la comunidad aldeana de San Carlos en los Andes septentrionales del Perú han vivido siempre al margen de los grandes centros que han presidido a los destinos imperiales, nacionales, incluso regionales. Su organización social y la representación que hacen de las relaciones sociales en las cuales se han comprometido, no dejan de mostrar la complejidad específica y dinámica de estas. Contrariamente a los modelos occidentales de los últimos siglos que sirven de referencia a las ..

Fat and carbohydrate content in the diet induces drastic changes in gene expression in young Göttingen minipigs

In human health, there is interest in developing specific diets to reduce body weight. These studies are mainly focused on phenotypic changes induced in blood measurements, i.e., triglycerides, HDL, LDL, and insulin, and on physical changes, i.e., body weight and BMI. To evaluate the biological impact of diet interventions, it is very important to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving the diet-induced phenotypic changes in relevant tissues. However, studying these effects in humans is difficult due to ethical concerns in doing interventions and obtaining tissue samples and good animal models are therefore needed. Göttingen minipigs, a small size obesity prone pig breed, have previously been shown to be a useful translational animal model for metabolic studies. In this study, 16 Göttingen minipig males (2-month old) were submitted to 13 weeks of differential diets to investigate the initial stages of diet-induced metabolic changes. Half of them were fed a high-fat/cholesterol, low-carbohydrate (HFLC) diet, and the other half were fed a low- fat/cholesterol, high-carbohydrate (LFHC) diet. After 13 weeks, the HFLC group weighted less and had dyslipidemia compared to the LFHC group. Liver, pancreas, and adipose tissues were collected at slaughter. Gene expression profiling of 83 metabolism-relevant genes was performed using high-throughput qPCR. In total, 41 genes were deregulated in at least one of the five tissues analyzed, with liver being the most drastically affected tissue. The new knowledge gained in this study could potentially be of value for considering direct modulation of gene expression by nutrient content in the diet.This study was supported by a grant from the Danish Research Council for Independent Research (DFF 1335-00127).Peer reviewe

The ability of SD-rats to distinguish between three different housing environments

Since 1986, when the Council of Europe gave the first provisions for housing of laboratory animals, the  focus on housing conditions has increased with emphasis on the size of primary enclosures such as cages or  pens as well as the complexity of the enclosure. Today European legislation dictates the minimum amount  of enrichment to be present in cages for different species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different enrichment schemes on growth rate, water  consumption, muscle strength and preference in rats, after items such as hides, nesting material, increased  cage height and shelves had been introduced to the cage environment. The study demonstrated that rats spend more time in the extra-enriched cages compared to the non-enriched  cages, whereas no differences in the dwelling time between the two types of enriched cages could be  detected. When present in the cage, the built-in shelf was used extensively (over 40% of the observations)  although no specific preference for the extra-enriched cage was detected. No differences in weight gain and water consumption could be detected between rats in the three different  housing conditions, although there was a slight increase in muscle strength for the standard-enriched housed  rats.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in tissue from frontal cortex and hippocampus.

<p>BDNF levels (pg/mg protein) are presented as means ±SD for minipigs fed low fat, high carbohydrate diet (LFHC); high fat/cholesterol, low carbohydrate diet (HFLC); low fat, high carbohydrate/sucrose diet (LFHS).</p

Body weight (kg) of minipigs by the end of the study.

<p>Low fat, high carbohydrate (LFHC); high fat/cholesterol, low carbohydrate (HFLC); low fat, high carbohydrate/sucrose (LFHS). * p &lt; 0.05.</p