Biochemistry analyses mouse resistance to obesity

Mechanisms that allow mice to resist developing obesity have been analysed using gel filtration chromatography by a team of French and Slovenian biochemistry and veterinary scientists.

Writing in BMC Genomics, an open-access, peer-reviewed periodical covering all aspects of genomic research, they explain how gel filtration chromatography allowed plasma lipoproteins to be investigated in their mouse test subjects.

Subsequent fast protein liquid chromatography further separated out the major lipoproteins from their samples, so that cholesterol distribution could be studied.

The team found HDL cholesterol, which protects against obesity, was elevated in the mice categorised as "lean" compared with those deemed to be "fat".

Higher HDL, accompanied by upregulation of synthesis of bile acids, may explain how cholesterol is excreted from lean mice, allowing them to avoid becoming obese, they suggest.

In their conclusion, the team write: "We identified novel candidate molecular targets and metabolic changes which can, at least in part, explain resistance to obesity development in the 'lean' line."