Assessing whole-body lipid-handling capacity in mice

Authors: HUANG, MINGYANG - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MATHEW, NOAH - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); ZHU, YI - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2020
Publication Date: 11/24/2020
Citation: Huang, M., Mathew, N., Zhu, Y. 2020. Assessing whole-body lipid-handling capacity in mice. The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE). 165:e61927. https://doi.org/10.3791/61927.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3791/61927

Interpretive Summary: Assessing lipid metabolism is a cornerstone of evaluating metabolic function, and it is considered essential for in vivo metabolism studies. This paper presents three easy and accessible methods that can serve as a starting point for evaluating lipid hemostasis for nutrition and obesity research in mice.

Technical Abstract: Assessing lipid metabolism is a cornerstone of evaluating metabolic function, and it is considered essential for in vivo metabolism studies. Lipids are a class of many different molecules with many pathways involved in their synthesis and metabolism. A starting point for evaluating lipid hemostasis for nutrition and obesity research is needed. This paper describes three easy and accessible methods that require little expertise or practice to master, and that can be adapted by most labs to screen for lipid-metabolism abnormalities in mice. These methods are (1) measuring several fasting serum lipid molecules using commercial kits (2) assaying for dietary lipid-handling capability through an oral intralipid tolerance test, and (3) evaluating the response to a pharmaceutical compound, CL 316,243, in mice. Together, these methods will provide a high-level overview of lipid handling capability in mice.