The Brown bear as a translational model for sedentary lifestyle-related diseases (original) (raw)

Sammendrag

Sedentary lifestyle accelerates biological ageing, is a major risk factor for developing metabolic syndrome

and is associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, sarcopenia and osteoporosis. In contrast to the linear path to worsening health in humans with metabolic syndrome,

brown bears have developed a circular metabolic plasticity enabling these animals to

tolerate obesity and a ‘sedentary lifestyle’ during hibernation and exit the den metabolically healthy

in spring. Bears are close to humans physiology wise, much closer than rodents, the preferred

experimental animals in medical research, and may better serve as translational model to develop

treatments for lifestyle-related diseases. In this review, aspects of brown bear hibernation survival

strategies are outlined and conceivable experimental strategies to learn from bears are described.

Tidsskrift

Journal of Internal Medicine

Opphavsrett

©2019 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine