Marina Benito1, Sonia Fernndez2, Paula Montesinos1, Juan Jose Vaquero1, Cristina Chavarrias1, Manuel Desco1,3
1Medicina y Ciruga Experimental, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maran, Madrid, Spain; 2Dpto. Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular II, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; 3Centro de investigacin en red en salud mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
This study proposes a straightforward method to quantitatively analyze body lipid content and fatty acid composition (saturation) by means of 1H and 13C spectroscopy. Results have been tested with 24 mice of wild type (12) and genetically obese diabetic (12), scanned at 5, 9, 18 months of age. 1H and proton-decoupled 13C spectra were acquired in vivo from epididymal fat. Clear differences have been found between both types of animals. The proposed approach has proven to be valuable to non-invasively characterize lipid composition, and is suitable for research in obesity-related disorders, such as insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes.
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