Abstract
BackgroundPigs are widely used as models for human physiological changes in intervention studies, because of the close resemblance between human and porcine physiology and the high degree of experimental control when using an animal model. Cloned animals have, in principle, identical genotypes and possibly also phenotypes and this offer an extra level of experimental control which could possibly make them a desirable tool for intervention studies. Therefore, in the present study, we address how phenotype and phenotypic variation is affected by cloning, through comparison of cloned pigs and normal outbred pigs.ResultsThe metabolic phenotype of cloned pigs (n = 5) was for the first time elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomic analysis of multiple bio-fluids including plasma, bile and urine. The metabolic phenotype of the cloned pigs was compared with normal outbred pigs (n = 6) by multivariate data analysis, which revealed differences in the metabolic phenotypes. Plasma lactate was higher for cloned vs control pigs, while multiple metabolites were altered in the bile. However a lower inter-individual variability for cloned pigs compared with control pigs could not be established.ConclusionsFrom the present study we conclude that cloned and normal outbred pigs are phenotypically different. However, it cannot be concluded that the use of cloned animals will reduce the inter-individual variation in intervention studies, though this is based on a limited number of animals.
Highlights
Pigs are widely used as models for human physiological changes in intervention studies, because of the close resemblance between human and porcine physiology and the high degree of experimental control when using an animal model
Multivariate data analysis of bio-fluids Representative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra obtained for plasma, urine and bile are shown in Figure 1
The NMR spectra were assigned by comparison with established libraries reported in the literature [16], the Human Metabolome Data Base (HMDB) [17], by comparison with previous studies [18,19], and with pure standards
Summary
Pigs are widely used as models for human physiological changes in intervention studies, because of the close resemblance between human and porcine physiology and the high degree of experimental control when using an animal model. In principle, identical genotypes and possibly phenotypes and this offer an extra level of experimental control which could possibly make them a desirable tool for intervention studies. It is easier to control animals than humans and to secure compliance to the experimental diet. This should lead to smaller inter-individual differences which are necessary for showing effects of the compound/diet under investigation. For this reason we hypothesize that a cloned animal model would be beneficial for intervention studies, as they are expected to provide a more controlled and repeatable experimental system that requires fewer animals compared with outbred lines
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