PhD defence: Kathrine Stenberg Jensen

Titel: Tissue-specific metabolic alterations associated with obesity in cats

Summary: Obesity is a common illness in cats, increasing the risk of the development of insulin resistance and feline diabetes mellitus. A few studies have investigated obesity-related adipokine alterations, inflammation, glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia in cats, but results have been inconsistent and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Thus, we still have an incomplete understanding of the obesity-associated metabolic changes potentially leading to a pre-diabetic state in cats.

In the current PhD project, the overarching hypothesis of the studies conducted was that feline obesity-related insulin resistance is caused by low-grade systemic inflammation and dyslipidemia originating from the adipose tissue. The overall aim was to identify obesity-related changes in adipose- and muscle-tissue distribution, gene expression and cytokine production in cats with non-experimentally induced obesity. This was investigated through measuring expression of adipokines, cytokines and markers of glucose metabolism in adipose and muscle tissue and an evaluation of the possible role of the macrophage derived cytokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 as a contributor to systemic obesity associated inflammation. Furthermore, a possible relationship between fat accumulation in muscle tissue, systemic insulin resistance and dyslipidemia was evaluated.

Assessment Committee:

• Professor Fintan McEvoy (Chairperson)
• Professor Inger Liliehöök
• Professor Alex German

Supervisors:

• Professor Charlotte Reinhard Bjørnvad
• Professor Thomas Mandrup-Poulsen
• Professor Harald Severin Hansen

Department: Veterinary Clinical Sciences

Graduate Programme: Veterinary Clinical Sciences