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）储存和相关代谢紊乱（例如肥胖）。与其他灵长类动物相比，人类的 WAT 水平较高，这被解释为对我们的古人类祖先所面临的频繁饮食匮乏的假设的适应。这个概念是人体适应匮乏的思想的核心，因此人类在进化上倾向于以脂肪的形式储存能量（节俭基因型和节俭表型假说）。根据这一观点，当前的肥胖流行是由于过去的资源匮乏环境与全球许多地方的当代饮食丰富之间的不匹配造成的。如果这个想法是正确的，那么肥胖倾向特征应该存在于人类身上，而不是其他灵长类动物身上。然而，很少有数据表明其他非人类灵长类动物是否具有这种特征。如果其他非人类灵长类动物也存在这种特征，则表明高 WAT 水平是一种古老的进化特征，而不是最近对稀缺性的适应。本博士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。该研究包括各种外展活动，以及与类人猿心脏项目的合作，该项目由一组专家组成，旨在帮助了解和治疗类人猿物种的心脏病。为了评估人类的肥胖倾向是否是与其他灵长类动物共有的特征，研究人员：（1）检查人类的膳食成分与膳食生物标志物之间的关系； (2) 评估吃低纤维但高脂肪和糖饮食的狒狒 (Papio anubis) 的身体成分和骨矿物质密度，以及 (3) 使用 DiceCT 扫描比较不同物种之间的脂肪沉积和去脂体重。该研究揭示了灵长类动物身体成分可塑性的差异，为人类和非人类灵长类肥胖的进化史提供了见解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。