Doctoral Dissertation Research: Assessing weight-gain tendencies in a non-human primates

博士论文研究：评估非人类灵长类动物的体重增加趋势

• 批准号: 2341173
• 负责人: Maureen Devlin Hamalainen
• 金额: $ 3.86万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2341173&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Assessing; weight

White adipose tissue (WAT) is involved in energy (fat) storage and related metabolic disorders (e.g., obesity). The high level of WAT in humans, as compared to other primates, is interpreted as an adaptation to the assumed frequent dietary scarcity faced by our hominin ancestors. This concept is central to the idea that human bodies are adapted to face scarcity, and thus that humans are evolutionary predisposed to store energy in the form of fat (the thrifty-genotype and thrifty-phenotype hypotheses). The current obesity epidemic, according to this idea, results from a mismatch between a past environment of scarcity and the contemporary dietary abundance that is found in many places around the globe. If this idea is correct, the obese-tendency trait should be found in humans but not in other primates. However, very few data exist to indicate whether or not other non-human primates present this characteristic. If this trait is present in other non-human primates, it would suggest that a high WAT level is an ancient evolutionary trait and not a recent adaptation to scarcity. This doctoral dissertation project addresses this question by investigating how dietary changes affect body composition in humans and baboons. The study includes a variety of outreach activities, and collaborations with the Great Ape Heart project, which is constituted by a group of experts that aid in understanding and treating cardiac disease in great ape species.To assess whether the obesity-prone tendency of humans is a trait shared with other primates, the researchers: (1) examine how dietary composition correlates with dietary biomarkers in humans; (2) assess body composition and bone mineral density in baboons (Papio anubis) that ate a low fiber but high fat and sugar diet, and (3) compare adipose deposits and lean body mass between species using DiceCT scans. The study informs about the variation in the plasticity of body composition across primate species, providing insights into the evolutionary history of human and non-human primate adiposity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

白色脂肪组织（WAT）参与能量（脂肪）储存和相关代谢性疾病（例如肥胖症）。与其他灵长类动物相比，人类中的高水平的水平被解释为适应我们人类祖先所面临的经常饮食稀缺性。这个概念是人体适应面对稀缺性的想法的核心，因此人类倾向于以脂肪的形式储存能量（节俭的生殖器型和thrifty-Phenotype型假设）。根据这一想法，目前的肥胖流行是由于过去稀缺环境与当代饮食丰富的环境之间的不匹配，这在全球许多地方都发现。如果这个想法是正确的，则应在人类中，但在其他灵长类动物中找到肥胖的特征。但是，很少有数据表明其他非人类灵长类动物是否呈现此特征。如果其他非人类灵长类动物中存在这种特征，则表明高水位是古老的进化特征，而不是最近对稀缺性的改编。该博士学位论文项目通过研究饮食变化如何影响人类和狒狒的身体成分来解决这个问题。 The study includes a variety of outreach activities, and collaborations with the Great Ape Heart project, which is constituted by a group of experts that aid in understanding and treating cardiac disease in great ape species.To assess whether the obesity-prone tendency of humans is a trait shared with other primates, the researchers: (1) examine how dietary composition correlates with dietary biomarkers in humans; （2）评估狒狒（Papio anubis）的身体成分和骨矿物质密度，该狒狒（Papio anubis）饮食低纤维但高脂肪和糖饮食，以及（3）使用Dicect扫描比较物种之间的脂肪沉积物和瘦体重。该研究向跨灵长类动物物种的人体组成可塑性的变化提供了信息，从而洞悉了人类和非人类灵长类动物肥胖的进化历史。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来通过评估来支持的。