The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice

(1) Background: Few studies focus on the development of obesity as a chronic disease as opposed to an acute condition. The “general purpose” C3H/HeJ (C3H) mouse strain is an alternative model for obesity development with regards to sex disparities and non-predisposed populations over time. (2) Metho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Benjamin Barr, Lauren Gollahon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-08-01
Series:Obesities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4168/4/3/25
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850260016431366144
author Benjamin Barr
Lauren Gollahon
author_facet Benjamin Barr
Lauren Gollahon
author_sort Benjamin Barr
collection DOAJ
description (1) Background: Few studies focus on the development of obesity as a chronic disease as opposed to an acute condition. The “general purpose” C3H/HeJ (C3H) mouse strain is an alternative model for obesity development with regards to sex disparities and non-predisposed populations over time. (2) Methods: In this study, 64 female and 64 male C3H mice were separated into two groups (<i>n</i> = 32) and maintained on a control or high-fat diet (HFD) for up to 18 months. At 6-month intervals, a cross-sectional cohort (<i>n</i> = ~8) was censored for evaluation. The mice were monitored for change in total, lean and fat mass, survivability, and tumor incidence. (3) Results: Both sexes in the C3H mouse strain developed diet-induced obesity (DIO). An increase in total mass consistent with a HF diet was observed in both female and male C3H mice. Survivorship at 18 months was the highest in the HF-diet-fed males (~62%) and lowest in the males fed the control diet (~19%). Females showed survivability at ~40%, regardless of diet. Cancer development increased more notably in the males with the HF diet and showed sex bias for liver cancer (males) and ovarian cancer (females) incidence with age. (4) Conclusions: This study establishes a baseline for future use of C3H mice as a strong model for studying obesity as a chronic disease, in both sexes, and as long-term model for age-related diet-induced obesity and cancer development.
format Article
id doaj-art-3ef368f517a84dd49f61d14f7ef284ee
institution OA Journals
issn 2673-4168
language English
publishDate 2024-08-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Obesities
spelling doaj-art-3ef368f517a84dd49f61d14f7ef284ee2025-08-20T01:55:45ZengMDPI AGObesities2673-41682024-08-014331432810.3390/obesities4030025The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ MiceBenjamin Barr0Lauren Gollahon1Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA(1) Background: Few studies focus on the development of obesity as a chronic disease as opposed to an acute condition. The “general purpose” C3H/HeJ (C3H) mouse strain is an alternative model for obesity development with regards to sex disparities and non-predisposed populations over time. (2) Methods: In this study, 64 female and 64 male C3H mice were separated into two groups (<i>n</i> = 32) and maintained on a control or high-fat diet (HFD) for up to 18 months. At 6-month intervals, a cross-sectional cohort (<i>n</i> = ~8) was censored for evaluation. The mice were monitored for change in total, lean and fat mass, survivability, and tumor incidence. (3) Results: Both sexes in the C3H mouse strain developed diet-induced obesity (DIO). An increase in total mass consistent with a HF diet was observed in both female and male C3H mice. Survivorship at 18 months was the highest in the HF-diet-fed males (~62%) and lowest in the males fed the control diet (~19%). Females showed survivability at ~40%, regardless of diet. Cancer development increased more notably in the males with the HF diet and showed sex bias for liver cancer (males) and ovarian cancer (females) incidence with age. (4) Conclusions: This study establishes a baseline for future use of C3H mice as a strong model for studying obesity as a chronic disease, in both sexes, and as long-term model for age-related diet-induced obesity and cancer development.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4168/4/3/25C3H/HeJobesityhigh-fat dietaginglongevitycancer
spellingShingle Benjamin Barr
Lauren Gollahon
The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice
Obesities
C3H/HeJ
obesity
high-fat diet
aging
longevity
cancer
title The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice
title_full The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice
title_fullStr The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice
title_short The Effects of Obesity on Sex, Aging, and Cancer Development in a Longitudinal Study of High-Fat-Diet-Fed C3H/HeJ Mice
title_sort effects of obesity on sex aging and cancer development in a longitudinal study of high fat diet fed c3h hej mice
topic C3H/HeJ
obesity
high-fat diet
aging
longevity
cancer
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4168/4/3/25
work_keys_str_mv AT benjaminbarr theeffectsofobesityonsexagingandcancerdevelopmentinalongitudinalstudyofhighfatdietfedc3hhejmice
AT laurengollahon theeffectsofobesityonsexagingandcancerdevelopmentinalongitudinalstudyofhighfatdietfedc3hhejmice
AT benjaminbarr effectsofobesityonsexagingandcancerdevelopmentinalongitudinalstudyofhighfatdietfedc3hhejmice
AT laurengollahon effectsofobesityonsexagingandcancerdevelopmentinalongitudinalstudyofhighfatdietfedc3hhejmice