THE OHAUS EXPLORER™ PRO PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE IN OBESITY RESEARCH
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The role of laboratory animals in psychological
research and experimentation, performed by skilled scientists and
research assistants in a controlled environment, is considered
essential to the understanding of basic human and nonhuman
behavior. In research studies across the globe, experiments are
conducted on a daily basis to advance medical knowledge and the
development of protocols to address and treat illness and
behavioral abnormalities. |
At the University of Florida's Behavioral Neuroscience Lab,
scientists are conducting experiments that examine the biological
basis of behavior. Using rats and mice, this particular lab focuses
on studies that examine eating behavior and its effect on obesity,
nicotine addiction, and ethanol (alcohol) intake. Senior Biological
Scientist Kimberly Robertson is the staff senior scientist who
oversees all lab experiments. Dr. Neil Rowland, chairman of the
Psychology Department, supervises the lab, and directing this
research is Anaya Mitra, a PhD candidate in Behavioral Neuroscience
who is also working toward a master's degree in Public
Health.
Currently, the primary research in the lab centers on the obesity
studies. The scientists are focusing on this study in recognition
of the fact that two-thirds of all Americans are now considered to
be obese - and that number is on the rise. Notably, growing numbers
of obese mothers are pregnant and giving birth. By using the
laboratory rats, the University of Florida is trying to determine
the relationship between obese pregnant rats and their offspring
and whether a high-calorie and high-fat diet poses additional risks
for obesity in the pups (baby rats) depending on whether and when
it is introduced into their diet.
The study is attempting to determine the metabolic and behavioral
consequences of gestational over-nutrition (an obese mother) on rat
pups. According to Mitra, "In this study, our focus is on the
physiological effects of maternal obesity on developing rat
fetuses." She is particularly interested in results of this
research from a public health, awareness and education
standpoint.
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Mitra added, "With increasing numbers of obese women, it stands
to reason that there will be an increase in the number of pregnant
mothers who are obese. The metabolic and behavioral consequences of
gestational over-nutrition are going to have a significant impact
on the health and economic conditions of many generations to come.
In line with these findings, one of the major goals of this
research is to examine the developmental consequences of a high
calorie prenatal environment - on feeding behaviors, development of
obesity and organ-specific pathologies in adulthood."
In trying to replicate human eating patterns and behavior, the
experiments involve attempting to "create" obese rats by
engineering their diets to mimic a high-fat human diet. The
"cafeteria-style" diet fed to the lab rats consists of a 60 percent
fat diet that is rotated with either store-bought foods (for
example, Vienna sausages and a fatty, oil-based cheese) or foods
created in the lab (such as a peanut butter and rat chow mixture
and cookie dough).
An essential tool in the lab, Robertson likes to refer to the
OHAUS Explorer® Pro model as the "lab's workhorse." "We use the
Explorer Pro for just about everything, from weighing ingredients
for the foods we prepare, to weighing food portions, both before
consumption and after pre-determined time intervals, to measure the
amount eaten by the laboratory rats, to weighing the rats. This is
one scale that can do it all with incredible accuracy, to 0.01
grams. When we are looking for that type of accuracy and being able
to handle a high load capacity in terms of the size of the rats,
this is the scale we use. It's kept on a cart and wheeled to
wherever it's needed."
Picture 1- Animal weigh mode
All OHAUS Explorer's can automatically adjust for
movements on the weighing platform.
Several experiments are running concurrently in this particular
research study. For example, one group of rats has had no exposure
at all to fat - the mother is not obese and the pups are fed only
standard rat chow, with no fatty foods added to their diet. Another
group is being tested to determine the effects of a high-fat diet
on the young pups of an obese mother. Still another group is being
tested to determine the effects of a high-fat diet on the adult
pups of an obese mother.
The lab also uses the OHAUS Explorer Pro, an extremely sensitive
scale, to weigh small amounts of drugs administered to rats in
current experiments that are being conducted to monitor and record
the effects of binge eating.
The rats in these experiments receive different quantities of a
sugar-fat whip (a Crisco and sugar blend) at various intervals, to
determine eating behavior. For instance, since this is something
the rats find extremely appealing to eat, if it is available to
them all the time, will they eat it all at once or in small doses?
If it is only offered once in a while, will they have a feeding
frenzy when it is presented? What is the ratio of sugar-fat whip
consumed to rat chow consumed? What percentage of the rats' total
caloric content is sugar-fat whip?
In this particular experiment, the OHAUS Explorer Pro measures drug
dosages to see whether certain drugs have any effect on the
palatability of the sugar-fat whip. Because drug dosage is
determined by rat weight, it is imperative that any scale used for
this purpose be sensitive to tiny amounts of the drug being tested.
The lab utilizes this same scale to weigh anorectic drugs in
experiments designed to determine whether this drug classification
has any effect on feeding behavior.
The OHAUS Explorer Pro Analytical balances read
all
the way down to 0.1mg.
There is an OHAUS balance for every need in the
lab.
Findings thus far seem to indicate that the offspring born to
the high-fat mother rats tend to become heavier than those born to
the low-fat mother rats. There is a trend showing that the male
offspring born to a high-fat mother and weaned onto a high-fat diet
seem to be more stress-reactive than offspring born to low-fat
mothers and weaned onto a low-fat diet. Offspring maintained on the
rotating high-fat diet (cookie dough, peanut butter, condensed
milk, lard, processed cheese product, and tinned sausage) show
significantly higher leptin (a protein produced by fat cells and
involved in regulating food intake and fat storage in the body)
levels and a trend toward higher insulin levels.
Mitra concluded. "In addition to this, we are also evaluating
differences in motivation to obtain food. Our hypothesis is that
the offspring maintained on a high-fat diet will have a reduced
motivation for working for a palatable food, while the offspring
maintained on the low-fat diet will have a greater
motivation."
The type of research taking place in the University of Florida's
Behavioral Neuroscience Psychology Lab is both ground-breaking and
critical to understand human eating patterns, obesity and
addiction. OHAUS scales serve this lab in many different ways and
are essential components in every experiment that is conducted
there.