Journal
BONE
Volume 145, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2020.115781
Keywords
Obesity; Weight loss; Bone; Animal model; Rodent; Translatability
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This review discusses the effects of obesity and weight loss on bone health in humans and rodents, highlighting the differences between the two species. It also emphasizes the importance of considering factors such as sex, age, and nutritional status when using animal models to study these effects, in order to enhance the translatability of research findings.
The implications of obesity and weight loss for human bone health are not well understood. Although the bone changes associated with weight loss are similar in humans and rodents, that is not the case for obesity. In humans, obesity is generally associated with increased bone mass, an outcome which is exacerbated by advanced age and menopause. In rodents, by contrast, bone mass decreases in proportion to severity and duration of obesity, and is influenced by sex, age and mechanical load. Despite these discrepancies, rodents are frequently used to model the situation in humans. In this review, we summarise the existing knowledge of the effects of obesity and weight loss on bone mass in humans and rodents, focusing on the translatability of findings from animal models. We then describe how animal models should be used to broaden the understanding of the relationship between obesity, weight loss, and skeletal health in humans. Specifically, we highlight the aspects of study design that should be considered to optimise translatability of the rodent models of obesity and weight loss. Notably, the sex, age, and nutritional status of the animals should ideally match those of interest in humans. With these caveats in mind, and depending on the research question asked, our review underscores that animal models can provide valuable information for obesity and weight-management research.
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