Diet-Induced Obesity (DIO) Is Affected by Level of Dietary Fat
and Gender in C57BL/6 MiceMatthew R. Ricci1, Michael A. Pellizzon1, Edward A. Ulman1, John Denier2, and Eric Arlund2
1Research Diets, Inc., New Brunswick, NJ and 2Taconic Biotechnology, Rensselaer, NY

Table 1. Composition of DIO Diets

Animals:• 140 C57Bl/6 mice (70 male and 70 female) were maintained at
Taconic Biotechnology (Rensselaer, NY).
Procedure:• At 3 weeks old, males and females were placed on one of 3
different purified diets with varying fat levels or a chow diet for 12weeks.
• Body weights were collected every 2 weeks throughout the 12week study.
• At week 0, 4, 8, and 12 nuclear magnetic resonance was
performed on 5 animals / gender on each diet to assess bodycomposition.
Diets:¾ D12492, 60 kcal% fat (n=20/gender)¾ D12451, 45 kcal% fat (n=20/gender)¾ D12450B, 10 kcal% fat (n=20/gender)¾ Zeigler chow (n=10 / gender)
Statistics:• Body weight (BW) and adiposity (%BFat) measures wereassessed with one-way ANOVA at each time point and repeatedmeasures ANOVA over time; post-hoc Bonferroni t-test wasperformed for p<0.05.
• Due to significant interactions over time with gender and diet onBW, male and female data for BW and BF were separated.

NAASO 2005 – #208P

IngredientCasein, 80 Mesh
L-Cystine

gm
200
3kcal
800
12gm
200
3Corn Starch
Maltodextrin 10
Sucrose

315
35350

1260
140
1400

Cellulose, BW200

50

050

Soybean Oil
Lard

2520225180

10135.5
16.5
102

Mineral Mix, S10026
DiCalcium Phosphate
Calcium Carbonate
Potassium Citrate, 1 H2OVitamin Mix, V10001
Choline Bitartrate
FD&C Yellow Dye #5
FD&C Red Dye #40
FD&C Blue Dye #1

0.05
00kcal800
12kcal800
120125
68.8

0500
275.2

050

025
177.5

225
1598

25245

225
2205

0000

10
13
5.5
16.5

0
000

10
13
5.5
16.5

0
0
00

40
0

102

40
010
2

40
0

0
0
0

72.8 291.2
100
400
172.8 691.2

gm
200
3

00.05
0

0
0
0

0
00.05

0004057 858.15

4057

773.854057

All Mice
D12492
D12451
D12450B
Zeigler

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abc

25abc

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a201055.05ac

25
20
15
100

2

468105120

24Week681012Week

Male mice
D12492
D12451
D12450B
Zeigler

40
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35

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20
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1224681012Week

Week

Figure 1. The DIO Diets
D12451

ac

abc

30

100

D12450B

35

1515Total

SUMMARY

Figure 2. Body weight (gm) and body fat (%) ofmice throughout the study period

Body fat (%)

Protein
Carbohydrate
FatTotalkcal/gm

gm% kcal%26.22026.3
2034.960
100
5.24

Body fat (%)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

D12492

gm% kcal%
23.7
2041.435
23.6
451004.73Female mice

D12492

4035
30
25abc
a

20

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a

30

20
15
10

10

5

2

4

6Week

8

1012CONCLUSIONS

25

15
00

2

4

6

8

10

1245 kcal% fat

60 kcal% fat

 The data suggest that increasing dietary fat content
induces greater and more rapid weight gain and adiposity
in male mice compared to female mice. This may be dueto a slower growth rate of female vs. male mice.

Week(a) Significantly different from D12450B, (b) D12451, and (c) Zeigler, p<0.05.

10 kcal% fatAll mice D12492 increased BW vs. D12450B (by 2 weeks), D12451
and vs. Zeigler (by 4 weeks) and this result persisted overtime. D12451 increased BW gain over time vs. D12450B.
(% Change in BW: 218%, 178%, 142%, and 130% forD12492, D12451, D12450B and Zeigler, respectively).
 D12492 significantly increased %BFat vs. D12450B andvs. Zeigler by 4 weeks and this result persisted over time.
(%BFat at 12 weeks: 29.7±3.3%, 22.1±2.5%, 15.4±1.4%,and 16.6±1.4% for D12492, D12451, D12450B andZeigler, respectively ).
Male mice D12492 increased BW after 2 weeks and D12451
increased BW vs. D12450B after 6 weeks and persisted
over time (% Change in BW: 257%, 204%, 181%, and147% for D12492, D12451, D12450B and Zeigler,respectively).
 After 4 weeks, D12492 increased %BFat vs. both low fat
diets; this persisted over time. After 12 weeks, D12451
significantly increased %BFat relative to Zeigler. (%BFatat 12 weeks: 34.3±1.8, 26.9±2.6, 19.2±1.6, and 16.8±2.1
for D12492, D12451, D12450B and Zeigler, respectively).
Female mice
 After 4 weeks, D12492 increased BW relative to all diets
and D12451 increased BW relative to D12450B. Overtime, D12492 significantly increased BW relative to allother diets. (% Change in BW: 181%, 153%, 104%, 113%
for D12492, D12451, D12450B and Zeigler respectively).
 %BFat was increased over the 12 weeks by D12492
relative to all other groups. (%BFat at 12 weeks: 25.1±5.9,17.4±3.1, 12.6±1.5, and 16.3±2.2 for D12492, D12451,
D12450B and Zeigler, respectively).

40

D12492
D12451
D12450B
Zeigler

Body fat (%)

To characterize the influence of dietary fat level and genderon the development of DIO in C57BL/6 mice.

D12451

gm% kcal%19.2
2067.3
70
4.3
10
100
3.85

Body wt (gm)PURPOSED12450B

Body wt (gm)• Dietary fat content plays a strong role in the development of
increased adiposity in humans and animals.
• C57BL/6 mice are vulnerable to the development of obesity
when fed a high fat diet and are employed frequently in studies
involving DIO.
• Although it is well known that high fat diets cause DIO in
C57BL/6 male mice, the influence of the level of dietary fat andgender on the development of DIO is not well characterized.

RESULTS

Product #Body wt (gm)

BACKGROUND

 The similar phenotype between the low fat purified diet andchow based diet support the use of a matched purified dietrather than chow as a low-fat control in DIO studies.
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