Temporal behavior of weight loss in a rat model of gastric restriction

Abstract

BackgroundObesity is a complex and multifactorial disorder and has become a major healthcare burden in some countries. The rising prevalence of overweight and obesity is considered a global pandemic. The current paradigm in obesity treatment has traditionally relied upon lifestyle modifications (diet and exercise) and pharmacological treatments which often lead to modest results. Surgical procedures have been increasingly performed. Bariatric surgery results in superior outcomes in terms of weight loss and weight‐associated comorbidities as compared to non‐surgical interventions. Experiments with animal models have significantly helped to elucidate some of the potential mechanisms underlying bariatric surgery. There is no information about gastric restriction with phytobezoar in animal model and the weight loss.PurposeMeasure the weight loss until 20 days after surgical gastrostomy and phytobezoar insertion and compare to sham and normal groupMethodsExperimental model of gastric restriction was devised using rats. The animals were submitted to surgical gastrostomy and a cylindrical loofah was inserted into the stomach. We studied 30 adult male Wistar rats divided in three groups: the stomach reduction group (R20), the sham group (SH20), which underwent the same procedure except for the loofah insertion and the control group (C20). Animals were fed and kept in separate cages. They were weighed every 3 days until being sacrificed on day 20. The results were described by the mean value with respective standard deviation. Comparison of multiple groups was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests. All tests were applied with 5% significance level.ResultsThere was a mean difference in the behavior of weight changes over the evaluation days between the groups (p Interaction <0.001), and on all evaluated days the experiment group presented a lower average weight change than the other groups (p <0.001). These findings might be a result of post‐ surgical weight loss correlated to a large extent with reduced spontaneous eating. This indicates that in our animal models it seems to recapitulate remarkably well the findings in humans.