COCVD

COCVD OBESITY RESEARCH CORE

The Obesity Core provides the equipment and technical expertise for measurement of lean/fat mass and whole body metabolism in mice. Because the primary focus of the COCVD is to identify mechanisms linking obesity to cardiovascular disease, it is imperative to obtain a sensitive, reproducible quantitative analysis of these measures of adiposity and metabolism. The DEXA-R and/or Echo MRI are utilized for non-invasive quantitative assessment of lean and fat mass, and bone mineral density in anesthetized mice.

Many of the COCVD purposed studies examine chronic diet-induced obesity and its influence on cardiovascular diseases. This makes a non-invasive assessment of fat and lean mass necessary for longitudinal assessment of the effects of obesity during the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. The Obesity Core has incorporated equipment for computerized quantitative measurement of oxygen consumption food intake, water intake, and physical activity in mice. This system is localized to dedicated space within the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources and is available to investigators of the COCVD.

Resources for COCVD investigators:
COBRE Metabolic Core request for experiment form
Introduction to the COCVD Metabolic Phenotyping Core
Analyzing calorimetry data using pivot tables
Analyzing data from indirect calorimetry experiments

OBESITY RESEARCH CORE DIRECTOR
Lisa A. Cassis, Ph.D.
COCVD Director
Professor and Chair, Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology
Room 521B, Charles T. Wethington Building
900 S. Limestone Street
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40536-0200
Phone: 859-323-4933 ext 81400
Fax: 859-257-3646

Wendy Katz, Ph.D.
Research Associate Senior, Graduate Center for Nutritional Sciences
Room 577, Charles T. Wethington Building
900 S. Limestone Street
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40536-0200
Phone: 859-323-4933, ext. 81419