Examining the effects of diet on muscle health in a female diet-induced obesity rat model

Smith, Hannah Elizabeth

Examining the effects of diet on muscle health in a female diet-induced obesity rat model

dc.contributor.advisor	Herzog, Walter
dc.contributor.author	Smith, Hannah Elizabeth
dc.contributor.committeemember	Reimer De Bruyn, Raylene
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hart, David Arthur
dc.contributor.committeemember	Joumaa, Venus A
dc.date	2024-05
dc.date.accessioned	2024-01-30T17:50:37Z
dc.date.available	2024-01-30T17:50:37Z
dc.date.issued	2024-01-24
dc.description.abstract	Worldwide obesity has tripled in the last 50 years as energy dense food and low activity levels common in westernized societies have become the norm. The excess fat associated with obesity, puts significant stress on the body’s metabolic pathways, leading to many noncommunicable diseases, including certain musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders, such as sarcopenic obesity. Sarcopenic obesity is the loss of muscle mass and strength coupled with an excess fat mass and fatty infiltrations into the muscle tissue called myosteatosis. Fortunately, obesity is modifiable through diet interventions as it has been previously shown that prebiotic fibre supplementation can decrease body fat percentage and improve metabolic health. However, there are a lack of studies to date that look at the effect of a prebiotic fibre on compromised muscle integrity as a consequence of obesity. To study fat infiltration in muscle tissue, a diet-induced obesity model was developed in male Sprague-Dawley rats, however, female animals were neglected to be considered. The purpose of this thesis was to (1) establish a model of diet-induced obesity in female Sprague-Dawley rats and compare changes in muscle integrity to the already existing male model and (2) determine the effect of a 3-week delayed prebiotic fibre supplement on intramuscular fat infiltration. Through a combination of histological staining techniques and measures of metabolic syndrome and inflammatory cytokines, we quantified intramuscular fat, fibrosis, local inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and systemic inflammation. It was determined that the diet-induced obesity model in female Sprague-Dawley rats is a viable model and that sex-dependent differences in intramuscular fat infiltration exist. We also observed that the 3-week delayed prebiotic fibre diet supplement was able to protect against certain consequences of obesity such as increased blood triglycerides and fat infiltration in the vastus lateralis, but not others such as fat infiltration in the soleus and systemic inflammation associated with metabolic endotoxemia.
dc.identifier.citation	Smith, H. E. (2024). Examining the effects of diet on muscle health in a female diet-induced obesity rat model (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118134
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Muscle
dc.subject	Sarcopenia
dc.subject	Obesity
dc.subject	Metabolic syndrome
dc.subject	Metabolic endotoxemia
dc.subject	Prebiotic fibre
dc.subject	High fat/high sucrose diet
dc.subject	Nutrition
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Biomedical
dc.title	Examining the effects of diet on muscle health in a female diet-induced obesity rat model
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Biomedical
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.