Late-onset obesity in mice transgenic for the human renin gene.
We previously generated a strain of transgenic mice carrying the human renin gene, hRN8-12, in the background of C57BL/6j. In this study, we discovered that hRN8-12 male mice, but not females, developed obesity starting at 15 weeks of age. The body weight of 60-week-old male transgenic mice was 2 times higher than that of age-matched wild-type mice. Interestingly, male mice heterozygous for the human renin gene showed moderate weight gain compared with transgenic and wild-type mice. Obese hRN8-12 mice exhibited hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia, and hyperlipidemia, and increase in weight in the adipose tissue, liver, heart, and kidneys. Histological analysis demonstrated that fatty hRN8-12 mice developed hypertrophy of pancreatic islets and fatty liver. These results suggested that hRN8-12 mice are associated with obesity dependent on the transgene dosage and should be a genetic model for late-onset obesity.
Banyu Tsukuba Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Sayuri
S
Uehara
Minoru
M
Tsuchida
Tetsuya
T
Kanno
Minoru
M
Sasaki
Masaru
M
Nishikibe
Akiyoshi
A
Fukamizu
D017668:Age of Onset; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004435:Eating / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D018628:Gene Dosage; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000235:genetics; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology; D012083:Renin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D012083:Renin