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Serum metabolomics analysis reveals that weight loss in obese dogs results in a similar metabolic profile to dogs in ideal body condition

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Abstract

Introduction

The study of metabolic profile can be an important tool to better understand, at a systemic level, metabolic alterations caused by different pathological conditions, such as obesity. Furthermore, it allows the discovery of metabolic biomarkers, which may help to diagnose alterations caused by obesity.

Objective

To investigate the metabolic profile of blood serum of obese dogs, control dogs, and dogs that were subjected to a weight loss program.

Methods

Ten obese adult spayed female dogs were included, and their body composition was determined by the deuterium isotope dilution method. The dogs were subjected to a weight loss program and formed a new experimental group after losing 20% of the initial body weight. A third experimental group was composed of ten lean adult spayed female dogs. The metabolic profile of blood serum was evaluated through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Principal Component Analyses (PCA) and Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) models were constructed using Pareto scaling pre-processing. Pathway analysis was also performed using the MetaboAnalist online tool.

Results

The PCA shows that the control and after weight loss groups presented a trend to negative PC1, indicating similarities between these two groups. In contrast, obese animals presented a tendency to appear on negative PC2 indicating a different metabolic profile. The OPLS-DA analysis of the serum indicated that healthy groups presented higher content of glucose, while animals that lost weight had higher levels of cholesterol and lactate than the control group. On the other hand, the analysis showed that lipid content, cholesterol, and branched-chain amino acids were highest in obese animals. Variable Influence on Projection (VIP) analysis demonstrated that Lactate is the most important metabolite for the OPLS-DA model and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) corroborated the similarity between the control group and the obese after weight loss groups. Moreover, the pathway analysis indicated the most important metabolic pathways related to this dataset.

Conclusions

The metabolomic assessment based on NMR of blood serum differed between obese dogs and animals in optimal body condition. Moreover, the weight loss resulted in metabolic profiles similar to those observed in lean animals.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to FAPESP (process 2018/00504-2) for a fellowship awarded to the F.M.M.O. and the Grandfood team for their support of this study.

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No funding was received.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pet Nutrology Research Center, Department of Animal Nutrition and Production, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Sao Paulo (USP), 225, Avenida Duque de Caxias Norte, Pirassununga, São Paulo, 13635-900, Brazil

    Thiago H. A. Vendramini, Henrique T. Macedo, Rafael V. A. Zafalon, Matheus V. Macegoza & Marcio A. Brunetto

  2. Veterinary Nutrology Service, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo, 13635-900, Brazil

    Vivian Pedrinelli, Larissa W. Risolia & Marcio A. Brunetto

  3. Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa-CNPDIA), São Carlos, 13560-970, Brazil

    Fernanda M. M. Ocampos & Luiz A. Colnago

  4. Grandfood Industry and Commerce LTD, Dourado, 13590-000, Brazil

    Juliana T. Jeremias & Cristiana F. F. Pontieri

  5. Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, University of Sao Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, 14049900, Brazil

    Eduardo Ferriolli

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  1. Thiago H. A. Vendramini
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Contributions

The study design was performed by MAB, CFFP, JTJ, and THAV. All authors participated in the manuscript writing and review process. Laboratory analyses were performed by FMMO, LAC, EF, HTM, MVM, VP, and RVAZ. The statistical analyses were performed by FMMO and LAC.

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Correspondence to Marcio A. Brunetto.

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Vendramini, T.H.A., Macedo, H.T., Zafalon, R.V.A. et al. Serum metabolomics analysis reveals that weight loss in obese dogs results in a similar metabolic profile to dogs in ideal body condition. Metabolomics 17, 27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-020-01753-4

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