title: Thoracic Duct Narrowing-Innovative Technique Restraining Weight Gain in Rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The lymphatic system is responsible for the absorption of fats from the digestive system, conveying 60-70 % of ingested fat to the blood stream. From the anatomical point of view, all the lymphatic drainage from the lower half of the body converges in the abdomen to enter the thoracic duct. This experimental study aim was to study the result of thoracic duct narrowing (TDN), an innovative surgical technique, on weight gain restrain in high-fat diet-fed rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven rats were allocated into three groups: thoracic duct narrowing ("S"-surgery), sham operation ("CS"-control surgery), and no surgery ("C"-control). All rats were fed with high-fat, cholesterol-rich diet. Food consumption and metabolic syndrome parameters including weight gain, plasma lipids and glucose, blood pressure, and viscera weight and histopathology were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thoracic duct narrowing was proved simple and safe surgical procedure in the rat model. TDN induced weight gain restrain, associated with mild hepatic steatosis compared to moderate-severe hepatic steatosis in control groups. Splenomegaly and splenic fatty histiocytes were shown in the treated animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TDN improved several parameters of the metabolic syndrome in high-fat diet-fed rats. TDN carries the potential of innovative obesity treatment using the lymphatic route of lipid absorption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel. barak22@gmail.com.|The Dr. Pinchas Borenstein Talpiot Medical Leadership Program 2013, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, 52621, Israel. barak22@gmail.com.|The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. barak22@gmail.com.|The Bert W. Strassburger Lipid Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, 52621, Israel. barak22@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Barak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosenzweig
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.|The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barshack
authors.affiliation: The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.|The Bert W. Strassburger Lipid Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, 52621, Israel.
authors.forename: Dror
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harats
authors.affiliation: The Bert W. Strassburger Lipid Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, 52621, Israel.
authors.forename: Aviv
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shaish
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D023421:Models, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013897:Thoracic Duct / Q000601:surgery*; D015430:Weight Gain
keywords: Hepatic steatosis; Splenic fatty histiocytes; Thoracic duct; Weight gain; Weight reduction