Fecal microbiota of male mice fed high fat diet or a weight cycling paradigm in young and old animals. Mus musculus

The goal of this study is to examine the potential influence of weight cycling on the fecal microbiome. Male wild-type mice were purchased from Jackson laboratory after weaning and started the diet regimen at 4 weeks of age. These mice were divided by diet regimen and housed respectively. The following groups include: 1) high diet throughout lifespan (HF), 2) chow diet throughout lifespan (LF), 3) weight cycling group that cycles young and then stays on a high fat diet for the second half of their lifespan (HFY), and 4) a weight cycling group that started out on a high fat diet and then cycles in the second half of their lifespan (HFO). Weight cycling was defined as four weeks on the LF diet and then four weeks on a HF diet that repeats for at least half of their lifespan. Fecal pellets were collected from the HFO group at the end of 13 months and 14 months of age and all other groups were collected at the end of 14 months.

本研究旨在探究体重循环对粪便微生物组的潜在影响。本研究使用的雄性野生型小鼠于断奶后从杰克逊实验室（Jackson Laboratory）购得，并于4周龄时开始实施饲喂方案。实验小鼠按饲喂方案分组并分笼饲养，具体分组如下：1）终生饲喂高脂日粮组（HF），2）终生饲喂普通日粮组（LF），3）体重循环组：青年阶段饲喂普通日粮，生命后半阶段维持高脂日粮饲喂（HFY），4）另一体重循环组：初期饲喂高脂日粮，生命后半阶段开展体重循环（HFO）。体重循环的定义为：依次饲喂普通日粮4周、高脂日粮4周，该循环周期在小鼠生命时长的至少一半阶段内重复进行。粪便颗粒样本采集时间如下：HFO组分别于13月龄及14月龄末期采集样本，其余各组均于14月龄末期采集样本。