The Lung Inflammation and Skeletal Muscle Wasting Induced by Subchronic Cigarette Smoke Exposure Are Not Altered by a High-Fat Diet in Mice, Hansen et al, 2013
Aims
The study, conducted at University of Melbourne, aimed to measure the effect of a high fat diet (HFD) on the lung inflammation and skeletal muscle loss induced by cigarette smoke in mice.
Methods
The study involved modelling diet-induced obesity in mice, then examining lung inflammation, body weight, and skeletal muscle wasting following exposure to cigarette smoke.
32 mice were used in four groups (eight mice in each group). Two of the groups were exposed to smoke, with the other two groups being sham (control) groups.
The smoke exposure routine involved the mice being exposed to the smoke of 2 cigarettes, twice a day, 6 days a week, for 7 weeks, inside an 18 litre plastic chamber.
The mice consumed either standard chow, or a high fat diet. The high fat diet consisted of modified laboratory chow containing sweetened condensed milk and lard, supplemented with highly palatable cafeteria style food such as meat pies, cakes, and biscuits.
Thus the four groups were:
(1) Sham (no exposure to smoke), standard chow fed
(2) Sham (no exposure to smoke), HFD fed
(3) Smoke exposed, standard chow fed
(4) Smoke exposed, HFD fed
Mice were killed (by anaesthetic overdose) after the seven week experimental period. They then had their tissue and blood collected and analysed.
Conclusions
The study found that “the pulmonary (lung) inflammation and skeletal muscle wasting induced by cigarette smoke exposure was in general not altered by the high fat diet”.
What you can do
Please write to the following to voice your concern about the unethical use of animals and waste of taxpayers dollars. Such information should be obtained from epidemiological studies and non-invasive imaging techniques of people who already smoke and consume a high fat diet.
Chair, Animal Ethics Committee
University of Melbourne
Level 5, Alan Gilbert Building
161 Barry Street
Melbourne 3010
Email: animal-ethics@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Anne Kelso AO
Chief Executive Officer
NHMRC
GPO Box 1421
Canberra, ACT 2601
Email: nhmrc@nhmrc.gov.au
Lodge a complaint form at https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about/contact-us/complaint-form
Details
Title: The Lung Inflammation and Skeletal Muscle Wasting Induced by Subchronic Cigarette Smoke Exposure Are Not Altered by a High-Fat Diet in Mice
Author/s: Michelle J. Hansen, Hui Chen, Jessica E. Jones, Shenna Y. Langenbach, Ross Vlahos, Rosa C. Gualano, Margaret J. Morris, Gary P. Anderson
Institution: University of Melbourne. Animals sourced from the Animal Resource Centre Pty Ltd (Perth, WA).
Funding Source: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), project grant number 628492
Reference: PLOS ONE, November 2013 | Volume 8 | Issue 11
