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Many veterinarians feel that feline obesity is increasing in prevalence within Japan, but are unsure as to what real rate of obesity prevalence exists currently. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, we sought to determine the ratio of overweight/obese cats, as determined via body condition score (BCS), based on a cross-sectional pool of healthy cats. Second, using a uniform method of biochemical measurement for cat plasma collected all over Japan, we sought to construct cross-sectional working reference ranges of plasma metabolites using age, BCS, and sex as classifying factors. Overall, the rate of overweight and obese cats (BCS of >3) was 56%, whereas obese cats (BCS >4) constituted 42% of our pool. Aging leads to an increased risk of developing lipid metabolism and kidney issues. Increases in BCS and age both carry increased risk of insulin resistance development. Moreover, increases in BCS bring about a higher risk of developing lipid metabolism problems, which may lead to the development of high cholesterol and triglyceride lipidemia, accompanied by higher levels of free fatty acids. Males appear to have a higher risk than females of developing higher BCS and body weight values, in addition to higher insulin and lower adiponectin values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weanling male Wistar rats were fed on a 10% soybean protein isolate (SPI) diet for 3 weeks with or without supplementing 0.3% sulfur-containing amino acids (SAA; methionine or cystine) to examine relationship between glutathione (GSH) levels and activities of NADPH-producing enzymes, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and malic enzyme (ME), in the liver. Of rats on the 10% SPI diet, GSH levels were lower and the enzyme activities were higher than of those fed on an SAA-supplemented diet. Despite the lower GSH level, γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS) activity was higher in the 10% SPI group than other groups. Examination of mRNAs of G6PD and ME suggested that the GSH-suppressing effect on enzyme induction occurred prior to and/or at transcriptional levels. Gel electrophoresis of G6PD indicated that low GSH status caused a decrease in reduced form and an increase in oxidized form of the enzyme, suggesting an accelerated turnover rate of the enzyme. In primary cultured hepatocytes, insulin response to induce G6PD activity was augmented in low GSH levels manipulated in the presence of buthionine sulfoximine. These findings indicated that elevation of the G6PD activity in low GSH levels was caused by amplified insulin response for expression of the enzyme and accelerated turnover rate of the enzyme molecule.

Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is a key factor in the development of chronic inflammation and is deeply involved in age-related and metabolic diseases development. These diseases have become a serious problem in cats. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is associated with aging and metabolism through maintaining inflammation via NF-κB. In addition, fibroblasts are considered an important factor in the development of chronic inflammation. Therefore, we aimed to examine the effect of cat SIRT1 (cSIRT1) on NF-κB in cat fibroblast cells. The up-regulation of NF-κB transcriptional activity and pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNA expression by p65 subunit of NF-κB and lipopolysaccharide was suppressed by cSIRT1 in cat fibroblast cells. Our findings show that cSIRT1 is involved in the suppression of inflammation in cat fibroblast cells.