Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A novel rat model of sarcopenic obesity based on aging and high-fat diet consumption

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Biogerontology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is defined as a combination of obesity and sarcopenia, leading to serious health consequences. However, a lack of suitable animal models has hampered research into this disorder. 12-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were given a high fat content (HFD, SO group) or standard diet (DC groups) for 28 weeks (until 20 months of age). In addition, 2-month-old rats were fed a standard diet as an age control (YC group) until they reached 10 months of age. At the end of the intervention, quadriceps development in the rats was monitored using magnetic resonance examinations and MR spectroscopy. Age-related changes in muscle mass and strength, histopathology, HFD-induced adiposity, and metabolic disturbances were compared between the three groups. Comparing with DC group, rats of SO (20 months, and fed by high-fat diet) exhibited a more prominent loss of muscle mass and strength, a more pronounced decline in myofibre number, IFM, increase in myocyte apoptosis accompanied with increased visceral fat, remarkable glycolipid metabolic disorders, and insulin resistance. However, DC group rats (20 months with standard diet) only showed a decline in quadriceps cross-sectional area/body weight, forelimb grip strength, myofibre cross-sectional area and number, and intermyofibrillar mitochondria number (IFM), increased myocyte apoptosis, without significant metabolic disorder compared with YC group rats. After verifying, SO animal model was successfully set up by HFD induced obesity concomitant with aging-related sarcopenia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • 2022Definition and Diagnostic Criteria for Sarcopenic Obesity_ ESPEN and EASO Consensus Statement.pdf

  • Batsis JA (2018) Sarcopenic obesity in older adults: aetiology, epidemiology and treatment strategies. Nat Rev Endocrinol 14(9):513–537

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Batsis JA, Mackenzie TA, Lopez-Jimenez F et al (2015) Sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, and functional impairments in older adults: National Health and Nutrition examination surveys 1999–2004. Nutr Res 35(12):1031–1039

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgartner RN, Wayne SJ, Waters DL et al (2004) Sarcopenic obesity predicts instrumental activities of daily living disability in the elderly. Obes Res 12(12):1995–2004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bollheimer LC, Buettner R, Pongratz G et al (2012) Sarcopenia in the aging high-fat fed rat: a pilot study for modeling sarcopenic obesity in rodents. Biogerontology 13(6):609–620

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buettner R, Schölmerich J, Bollheimer (2007) High-fat diets: modeling the metabolic disorders of human obesity in rodents. Obesity 15(4):798–808

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng YJ, Gregg EW, De Rekeneire N et al (2007) Muscle-strengthening activity and its association with insulin sensitivity. Diabetes Care 30(9):2264–2270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • da Costa JP, Vitorino R, Silva GM et al (2016) A synopsis on aging—theories, mechanisms and future prospects. Ageing Res Rev 29:90–112

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Daya A, Donaka R (2020) Karasik zebrafish models of sarcopenia. Dis Models Mech 13(3):dmm042689

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Donini LM, Busetto L, Bischoff SC et al (2022) Definition and diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity: ESPEN and EASO consensus statement. Obes Facts 15(3):321–335

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fellner C, Schick F, Kob R et al (2014) Diet-induced and age-related changes in the quadriceps muscle: MRI and MRS in a rat model of sarcopenia. Gerontology 60(6):530–538

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Marcos PJ (2011) Auwerx Regulation of PGC-1α, a nodal regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Am J Clin Nutr 93(4):884S-890S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Contreras C, Vazquez-Gomez M, Torres-Rovira L et al (2018) Characterization of ageing-and diet-related swine models of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity. Int J Mol Sci 19(3):823

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gavin TP, Stallings HW, Zwetsloot IIIKA et al (2005) Lower capillary density but no difference in VEGF expression in obese vs. lean young skeletal muscle in humans. J Appl Physiol 98(1):315–321

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez-Perez Y, Amengual-Cladera E, Catala-Niell A et al (2008) Gender dimorphism in high-fat-diet-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of aged rats. Cell Physiol Biochem 22(5–6):539–548

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guillet C (2005) Boirie insulin resistance: a contributing factor to age-related muscle mass loss? Diabetes Metab 31:5S20-5S26

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayat M (2012) Basic techniques for transmission electron microscopy. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Heydemann A (2016) An overview of murine high fat diet as a model for type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Diabetes Res 16:2902351

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway GP, Holwerda AM, Miotto PM et al (2018) Age-associated impairments in mitochondrial ADP sensitivity contribute to redox stress in senescent human skeletal muscle. Cell Rep 22(11):2837–2848

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Julius S, Amery A, Whitlock LS et al (1967) Influence of age on the hemodynamic response to exercise. Circulation 36(2):222–230

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalinkovich A, Livshits G (2017) Sarcopenic obesity or obese sarcopenia: a cross talk between age-associated adipose tissue and skeletal muscle inflammation as a main mechanism of the pathogenesis. Ageing Res Rev 35:200–221

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kob R, Fellner C, Bertsch T et al (2015) Gender-specific differences in the development of sarcopenia in the rodent model of the ageing high‐fat rat. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 6(2):181–191

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Malenfant P, Joanisse D, Theriault R et al (2001) Fat content in individual muscle fibers of lean and obese subjects. Int J Obes 25(9):1316–1321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Merritt EK, Stec MJ, Thalacker-Mercer A et al (2013) Heightened muscle inflammation susceptibility may impair regenerative capacity in aging humans. J Appl Physiol 115(6):937–948

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Park SS, Seo YK (2020) Excess accumulation of lipid impairs insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle. Int J Mol Sci 21(6):1949

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pasdar Y, Darbandi M, Mirtaher E et al (2019) Associations between muscle strength with different measures of obesity and lipid profiles in men and women: results from RaNCD cohort study. Clin Nutr Res 8(2):148–158

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rasool S, Geetha T, Broderick TL et al (2018) High fat with high sucrose diet leads to obesity and induces myodegeneration. Front Physiol 9:1054

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Roubenoff R (2004) Sarcopenic obesity: the confluence of two epidemics. Obesity 12(6):887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayed RK, de Leonardis EC, Guerrero-Martínez JA et al (2016) Identification of morphological markers of sarcopenia at early stage of aging in skeletal muscle of mice. Exp Gerontol 83:22–30

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schaap LA, Pluijm SM, Deeg DJ et al (2009) Higher inflammatory marker levels in older persons: associations with 5-year change in muscle mass and muscle strength. J Gerontol Ser A 64(11):1183–1189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turpin S, Ryall JG, Southgate R et al (2009) Examination of ‘lipotoxicity’in skeletal muscle of high-fat fed and ob/ob mice. J Physiol 587(7):1593–1605

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Walker JA (2001) P quirke viewing apoptosis through a ‘TUNEL’. J Pathol 195(3):275–276

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yasuda K, Ishii T, Suda H et al (2006) Age-related changes of mitochondrial structure and function in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mech Ageing Dev 127(10):763–770

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Xie X, Dou Q et al (2019) Association of sarcopenic obesity with the risk of all-cause mortality among adults over a broad range of different settings: a updated meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr 19(1):1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Huan Zhu, Qianqian Sun, Huiyu Tang, Yanyu Chen, Ke Tan & Shuang Wang

  2. Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Xu Xu

Authors
  1. Huan Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qianqian Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Huiyu Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yanyu Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ke Tan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xu Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Shuang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization, HZ and SW; methodology, QS; software, HT; validation, HZ, SW and QS; formal analysis, YC; investigation, HZ; resources, YC; data curation, KT; writing—original draft preparation, HZ; writing—review and editing, SW; visualization, QS; supervision, QS project administration, HZ; funding acquisition, SW.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shuang Wang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, H., Sun, Q., Tang, H. et al. A novel rat model of sarcopenic obesity based on aging and high-fat diet consumption. Biogerontology 24, 235–244 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-022-10010-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-022-10010-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation