Abstract
The objective of the current study was to determine if age, diet, and genetic disposition (animal strain) in an animal model had early effects on specific molecular markers in circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Three strains [Sprague-Dawley (SD), Fischer 344 (F344), and Brown-Norway (BN)] of male rats were maintained on a high-fat (HF) or regular diet. Blood was collected at 4, 12, and 24 wk to assess chemistry and to recover PBMCs. Triglycerides and body weight gain increased at all time points in the HF diet group for each strain. Telomere length in PBMCs decreased in the HF diet group compared to the regular diet group up to 24 wk in all strains. Telomere length decreased in PBMCs at 24 wk compared to baseline in all strains, indicating an age-related effect. These findings highlight that diet and age cause changes in PBMCs recovered from different strains of rats. The next tier of studies will examine the contribution of an occupational exposure (e.g., welding fume inhalation) in combination with diet, age, and strain, to assess changes in the molecular responses of isolated PBMCs. In addition, studies involving lifestyle exposure (e.g., tobacco smoke) are in the planning stages and will assess the long-term effects of exposure in our animal model.
Highlights
The current report describes the initial study by which three different strains of [Sprague-Dawley (SD), Fischer 344 (F344), and Brown-Norway (BN)] male rats were maintained on a high fat, western (HF) or regular diet for 24 wk
The % change in body weight above baseline was significantly increased in the high fat diet group compared to regular diet group at every time point for the F344 and BN strains and from 6–24 wk for the SD strain (Fig. 1A)
The highfat diet had the greatest effect on percent change in body weight in the BN strain, causing a 30–40% increase over regular diet from 2–24 wk, whereas the least effect occurred in the SD strain with an approximate increase of 10% from 6–24 wk (Fig. 1B)
Summary
The current report describes the initial study by which three different strains of [Sprague-Dawley (SD), Fischer 344 (F344), and Brown-Norway (BN)] male rats were maintained on a high fat, western (HF) or regular diet for 24 wk. In this first tier of the investigation, the goal was to establish the diet and time course regimen for the different strains of rats. Development of ongoing exposure studies examining the added effect of pulmonary inhalation of welding fume and cigarette smoke with diet, age, and rat strain
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