Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Animal Dairy & Veterinary Scie
Non Technical Summary
The long-term goal of this equipment grant proposal request is to sustain Utah State University's research capacity for rapid, routine measurement of body composition of laboratory rodents in support of varied studies interrogating the contribution of basal diets, functional foods, dietary bioactives, and/or micronutrients on animal health and disease. This application requests matching funds for the purchase of a new EchoMRI-700 whole body composition analyzer. The EchoMRI-700 can rapidly and reliably determine fat mass, lean mass and water in rodents up to 700 g in size. The EchoMRI-700 reaches a broad spectrum of disciplines in nutritional epigenetics, immunology, biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, genetics, behavioral neurobiology and biology at Utah State University, thus providing inter-disciplinary opportunities to strengthen our research efforts. The use of EchoMRI-700 significantly enhances the overall research mission to improve the health of the population through the quantitative measure of body composition in pre-clinical animal models. This approach provides critical insight into the impact of basal nutrition and dietary interventions on a critical health parameter - the deposition of fat - in a way that is easily accessible, low stress, rapid, and reliable, meaning that many researchers can incorporate body composition assessment easily into their experiment design. New knowledge from these studies will direct our fundamental understanding of the disease process, which in turn, may shape public health policies and improve the diverse systems of agriculture and beyond at a national level.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of this equipment grant proposal request is to sustain Utah State University's research capacity for rapid, routine measurement of body composition of laboratory rodents in support of varied studies interrogating the contribution of basal diets, functional foods, dietary bioactives, and/or micronutrients on animal health and disease. The EchoMRI will continue to fulfill a critical need for nearly all of all of our dietary intervention pre-clinical mouse studies, either as the determinative endpoint or a secondary endpoint to assess rodent health. In these experiments, body composition analysis will continue to provide information critical to understanding how different dietary patterns and the gut microbiome may affect energy partitioning and fat deposition in mice. The EchoMRI™-700 Analyzer delivers precise body composition measurements of fat, lean, free water, and total water masses in live animals weighing up to 700 g. With the high precision and accuracy of the measurements carried out by specialized NMR-MRI-based technology, this instrument combines the simplicity of use, short scan times, and the comfort of animals which need not be restrained or anesthetized. The EchoMRI-700 will be purchased quickly upon receipt of the USDA award and should be available for training and use within a maximum of four months from the start date.
Project Methods
n/a