Rat Model: Food Intake and Energy Expenditure

Description: The main purpose of "Rat Model" (computer simulation) is to train students in doing experimental research by using a simulation program. The program makes the student familiar with the experimental research of the Department of Animal Physiology at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). All the studies presented in this program are studies on the rat. Most of these rats are provided with a permanent heart catheter (see the videofilm entitled Heart Cannulation, record number 4796) by which blood samples are taken frequently for analysis of several parameters (see videofilm entitled Dose-Effect Relationship Between Insulin and Blood Glucose, record number 4797). The following three main subjects of research in the field of food intake regulation and energy metabolism are presented: Preabsorptive Insulin Release (PIR); Substrate Oxidation and Exercise; and Regulation of Food Intake. The discussion on PIR is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the phenomenon of PIR. The second and third part deal with the conditions for this phenomenon to occur, for example the way of food administration, and the dose of glucose administration. In the last part the role of the central nervous system in the phenomenon PIR is discussed. The second subject of the simulation program deals with the metabolic changes following exercise. This subject is divided into two parts. The first part investigates the involvement of the hypothalamus in the regulation of glucose and free fatty acid concentrations during exercise. The pathways by which the hypothalamus may regulate energy metabolism are studied as well. The second part looks at the relationship between catecholamine levels in plasma and the release of glucose and free fatty acids. The last subject of the simulation program deals with the regulation of food intake and body weight.   Several topics are discussed, like the circadian rhythms of food intake, and the influence of the hypothalamus on food intake and body weight. After studying The Rat Model program the students should be able to: Select and define a research question; Select a relevant experiment with an appropriate experimental design; Select a control experiment and compare the results with the experimental group; Analyse and interpret the results in the light of the research question; Formulate a clear answer to the research question; Discuss the results of the experiment in the context of the regulation of food intake or in the context of energy metabolism during exercise.

Comments & References: This program comes with a manual and coursebook. Suitable for independent use. This program is not commercially available, but it can be purchased at the Open University of the Netherlands (see supplier's address). Hardware requirements: an IBM- compatible PC. To run the program the Toolbook runfile TBOOK.EXE has to be installed.

Computer type: IBM