title: Dietary obesity in exercising or cold-exposed Syrian hamsters.
abstract: High-fat diet-feeding increases body weight and adiposity in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), effects due in part to decreased energy expenditure. The effects of voluntary exercise- or cold exposure-induced increases in energy expenditure were examined in fat- or chow-fed, female Syrian hamsters. In Experiment 1, voluntary exercise (10 weeks) caused a moderate hyperphagia and actually increased body weight in both diet groups through increases in lean body mass. Carcass lipid was not affected by by exercise in chow-fed hamsters and only slightly reduced in fat-fed animals. In Experiment 2, chronic (8 weeks) cold exposure (5 degrees C) increased energy intake to the same extent in both dietary groups relative to the warm-exposed (23 degrees C) controls. High-fat diet-induced obesity was largely prevented by cold exposure. Cold exposure reduced lean body mass in chow-fed hamsters, but this carcass component was spared by fat-feeding. These results indicate that the increased metabolic demands of cold exposure were more effective in preventing this form of diet-induced obesity than those of voluntary exercise (80% and 17% reductions in carcass lipid, respectively). These results are discussed in terms of possible beneficial effects of eating a lipid-rich diet prior to winter.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001834:Body Water / Q000032:analysis; D001835:Body Weight; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006224:Cricetinae / Q000502:physiology*; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005260:Female; D008647:Mesocricetus / Q000502:physiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005082:Physical Exertion
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats