Body fat of rats of different age-groups and nutritional states: assessment by micro-CT and skinfold thickness

Obesity presents a growing public health problem. Therefore, the analysis of body composition is important in clinical practice as well as in animal research models of obesity, hence precise methods for the assessment of body fat would be essential. We aimed to evaluate in vivo abdominal micro-computed tomography scan restricted to the L1-L3 region (micro-CT_(L1-L3)), a skinfold thickness-based method (STM) and post mortem body composition analysis (PMA) with regard to whole-body micro-CT scan in rats. Male Wistar rats of different age-groups (from 3 to 24 months) and nutritional states (normally fed, high-fat diet-induced obese, calorie-restricted) were used. The fat percentage was determined with micro-CT_(L1-L3) and whole-body scan in anesthesized rats. Their skinfold thickness was measured in five locations with Lange caliper. Wet weights of epididymal and retroperitoneal fat pads were determined via PMA. With regard to fat mass, the strongest correlation was observed between abdominal and whole-body micro-CT. The other methods showed weaker associations with whole-body micro-CT and with each other. Micro-CT_(L1-L3) and PMA showed similar age-associated increase in fat mass between 3-18 months. Micro-CT_(L1-L3), STM and PMA were efficient to detect differences in fat mass values in groups of different nutritional states. Micro-CT_(L1-L3) appears to be a useful method for body fat assessment in rats with reduced scanning time. In rats STM may also be a useful, low-priced, non-invasive and simple in vivo technique to assess obesity.

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