Modern bomb calorimeter for accurate determination of energy balance in metabolic studies

现代弹式热量计，用于准确测定代谢研究中的能量平衡

• 批准号: RTI-2019-00572
• 负责人: Mutch, David
• 金额: $ 3.25万
• 依托单位: University of Guelph
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=660517
• 关键词: Modern; bomb; calorimeter; accurate; determination

The applicants of this proposal conduct leading-edge basic research in the fields of rodent physiology, metabolism, and cell signalling. Studies to date have investigated how genetic, dietary, and pharmacological manipulations influence whole-body energy balance. Critical to our NSERC-funded research programs is the ability to measure energy balance. Determining the amount of energy consumed by an animal is straightforward from the caloric content of experimental diets and determining energy expenditure is easily measured through the use of metabolic cages, which provide insight regarding the fuel sources used by an animal (fat and carbohydrates), heat production, and physical activity. However, there is a fundamental oversight in this simplified view of whole-body energy balance. Indeed, we assume that all of the calories consumed by a rodent are absorbed (i.e., complete digestive efficiency). This assumption is flawed and can lead to important misinterpretations of whole-body energy balance data. To address this critical gap, we are requesting funds to purchase a state-of-the-art bomb calorimeter to precisely measure fecal energy content – which is a direct measure of digestive efficiency. There is currently one calorimeter located at the University of Guelph; however, this system is located in another department and is highly used by those research groups, is more than 20-years old, is unreliable due to frequent break-downs, and is manually operated leading to high variability between users. Thus we are in urgent need of a modern bomb calorimeter that provides greater accuracy, higher through-put and is accessible to researchers in our department. The impact of acquiring a new calorimeter is significant due to the wide-range of research areas covered by the applicants and users. For example, measuring digestive efficiency will lead to fundamental and important changes in how we interpret food intake and energy balance data, enhance our knowledge of genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling digestive efficiency, improve our understanding of how diet and pharmacological interventions influence body weight regulation, and open up new avenues of investigation. The inability to measure digestive efficiency means that our data interpretations may currently be flawed and we are missing opportunities to uncover novel molecular mechanisms related to body weight regulation. It is anticipated that acquiring a modern calorimeter will enhance the direct training of ~50 highly qualified personnel (HQP) per year across 6 NSERC-funded laboratories. Overall, we anticipate that acquiring a calorimeter will have immediate and significant benefits on numerous NSERC-funded research programs, and will directly enhance HQP productivity and training.

这项计划的申请者在啮齿动物生理学、新陈代谢和细胞信号传递领域进行前沿的基础研究。到目前为止，研究已经调查了遗传、饮食和药物操作如何影响全身能量平衡。对我们NSERC资助的研究项目至关重要的是测量能量平衡的能力。通过实验饲料的卡路里含量可以直接确定动物消耗的能量，通过使用代谢笼很容易测量能量消耗，代谢笼提供了关于动物使用的燃料来源(脂肪和碳水化合物)、热量产生和体力活动的信息。然而，这种对全身能量平衡的简化观点存在一个根本的疏忽。事实上，我们假设啮齿动物消耗的所有卡路里都被吸收了(即完全消化效率)。这一假设是有缺陷的，可能会导致对全身能量平衡数据的重大误解。为了解决这一严重缺口，我们正在申请资金购买最先进的炸弹热量计，以精确测量粪便能量含量--这是消化效率的直接衡量标准。目前Guelph大学有一个热量计；然而，该系统位于另一个系，这些研究小组经常使用该系统，已有20多年的历史，由于频繁故障而不可靠，而且是手动操作，导致用户之间的变异性很大。因此，我们迫切需要一种能提供更高精度、更高吞吐量且便于我们系研究人员使用的现代弹式量热计。由于申请者和用户涉及的研究领域很广，购买新的热量计的影响是巨大的。例如，测量消化效率将导致我们如何解释食物摄入量和能量平衡数据的根本和重要的变化，提高我们对控制消化效率的遗传和分子机制的了解，提高我们对饮食和药物干预如何影响体重调节的理解，并开辟新的研究途径。无法测量消化效率意味着我们的数据解读目前可能存在缺陷，我们正在错失发现与体重调节相关的新分子机制的机会。预计购买现代热量计将加强6个NSERC资助的实验室每年对约50名高素质人员(HQP)的直接培训。总体而言，我们预计，购买热量计将对NSERC资助的众多研究项目产生立竿见影的好处，并将直接提高HQP的生产率和培训。