Introduction
The research was conducted by the Physiology Division of the University of São Paulo, situated in South America. The article was published in 2022. It aimed to expound on the effects of water deprivation in male Wistar rats that feed on a diet with high-fat content. The subject rodents were observed for behavioral and hormonal changes. They were put on the diet and evaluated after nine weeks through various tests, which showed multiple responses to different conditions they were exposed to. A control experiment was run alongside this high-fat diet experiment to provide results without variables for statistical comparison. The results were evaluated using One-way and Two-way ANOVA techniques and finalized using a Post hoc test.
Major Research Questions
The fundamental question for this research is on the chronic and hormonal effects on male Wistar rats by a high-fat diet. The question is hypothesized in section one, the fourth paragraph of the article. The experiment aims to find the change in calories consumed and body weight after dehydration of the rats. It is expounded in section 3.3, which lays out the effects. The effect of dehydration on plasma oxytocin, triglycerides, cholesterol, and free fatty acid concentration in the blood of the subject rats is also studied in section 3.6. The study seeks to know the concentrated saline and water consumption after forty-eight hours of dehydration, as detailed in section 3.5. The effect of fatty food on the body weight of the rats is studied in section 3.1. The study also aims at also find the consequence of fatty food on the messenger RNA exhibition in retroperitoneal adipose tissue in section 3.7. These questions form the framework of the research article.
Crucial Findings of the Research
The evaluation of the data collected established that a high-fat diet contributed to a significant weight gain in the rats fed due to adequate feeding, hence the weight addition. Moreover, the fatty diet increased the exhibition of the oxytocin and peroxisome proliferator-activated messenger RNA genes. Water deprivation caused an increase in water and hypertonic saline intake in both control and fatty diet rats. Nonetheless, the control rats’ water intake was higher than the fatty diet rats. Water deprivation brought about an increase in oxytocin levels in both groups of rats, an increase in high-density lipoproteins an increase of triglycerides in control-dehydrated rats, and a decrease of plasma glycerol in high-fat diet rats.
Research Method
Blood and retroperitoneal and epididymal adipose tissue collection procedure was used to determine the plasma oxytocin levels and the various gene expressions within the blood of the subject rats. The subject rats were water-deprived before decapitating, and blood was collected in chilled heparinized tubes. The action was done to prevent the clotting of blood, which would distort it. This method was suitable as oxytocin levels fluctuate depending on the level of dehydration. It was used to determine the oxytocin levels in the blood. Retroperitoneal and epididymal fat tissue were collected and stored at 200K to be studied in terms of their weight and also the mRNA strands it contained.
The method was suitable because adipose tissues store energy and control metabolism through the secretion of hormones and microRNAs in response to various body changes hence change in microRNAs would be notable. The method was also preferable because decapitation allowed accurate oxytocin levels to be measured without secondary interference from hormones released by the brain. It is also suitable because it is adjacent and sensitive to the kidney, which is very sensitive to body metabolism and water level, which is essential in studying the water deprivation effects on the subject rats. This method was relevant since it produced the desired results, which were used to conclude the hormonal impact of water deprivation and a high-fat diet.
Figure Three Description
Figure 3 in the article shows the adipose tissue, plasma oxytocin, and metabolic parameters such as glycerol, glycemia, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins, and free fatty acid levels in the blood responded to high-fat diet and water deprivation. The figure shows the type of diet being an independent variable while blood metabolic parameters as dependent variables. It showed the change in the stated parameters when the rats were exposed to a standard and high-fat diet. Moreover, it shows the changes in the blood metabolic parameters when both groups were deprived of water for 48 hours before being hydrated with water and hypertonic saline solution. The figure has eight sections (a-h), each representing a blood metabolic parameter and how it is affected by diet and water deprivation. The figure was the most suitable and only way that the data could have been represented because the blood metabolic parameters were being affected by diet type and dehydration and hence put together for easy comparison and conclusion. The figure caption on page 1461, top right corner, states the relationship between the blood parameters and diet and dehydration in each section (Dos Santos, 2022). It was generated after data collected from the experiment was analyzed using the two-way ANOVA technique in all sections and the post hoc test in sections a, b, and c. The figure depicts the changes induced in the rats by a high-fat diet and dehydration
Conclusion
The article aimed to identify the habitual and hormonal changes observed in rats fed high-fat diets and deprived of water for forty-eight hours. The research used suitable data collection methods and analyzed them extensively using different techniques. The article also illustrates and compares the results using figures. It extensively refers to numerous related articles. It concludes by stating the hormone level changes in high-fat diets and dehydrated rats. It sufficiently provides facts to back up its conclusion on the noted changes. The article achieves its central research question.