Morbid obesity is a major health issue in the western world, with increasing prevalence1. Bariatric surgery remains the only long-term effective therapy for morbid obesity2, with clear benefits on obesity-related comorbidities3. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) remains the gold standard as it is one of the oldest procedures and one of the most-performed worldwide with the longest follow-up4. OAGB is a more recent procedure first described in 2001 by Rutledge5. It has been described as an effective alternative to RYGB6 and has some advantages. Early data indicates a similar efficacy to RYGB with respect to weight-loss and the resolution of obesity-related comorbidities6,7. Furthermore, the risks of stenosis or leakage of the jejunojejunal anastomosis in RYGB are avoided, and the risk of an internal hernia may be lower than with RYGB8.
The physiological mechanisms underlying weight-loss after bariatric surgery remain controversial and can be difficult to study in humans9. Animal models are useful to understand how bariatric surgeries may impact glucose metabolism, neuroendocrine modifications, or satiety mechanisms. Comparative data between procedures are lacking and long-term effects of these surgeries need to be better understood10. It is not possible to fully standardize pre- and postoperative clinical care, and satisfactory follow-up can be difficult to achieve: some studies report loss-to-follow-up rates as high as 30% for the first year11.
The concept of gastric bypass is a combination of a restrictive procedure, due to the creation of a gastric pouch, and a moderate degree of malabsorption, resulting from the exclusion of the duodenum and the proximal jejunum from the gastrointestinal transit. Currently, limb length in bariatric surgery is still a matter of debate12,13. Available data show a high variability of procedures and no consensus has yet been reached on the optimal limb length for OAGB14,15. Nonetheless, many authors have reported a 200 cm BPL length as the standard for OAGB16,17,18. The mean length of the small bowel is about 700 cm19.
Several rodent models of RYGB have been developed worldwide20, with great variations in terms of pouch size, limb length, and the preservation of the vagal nerve. But very few authors reported a model of experimental OAGB; for this reason, theresearch team developed a model of OAGB in collaboration with bariatric surgeons. The rationale behind the development of the model was to mimic gastric bypass practiced in humans. The model incorporates the construction of a gastric pouch with the exclusion of the antrum and the body of the stomach. For it, the surgeon makes an ablation of the nonglandular stomach using a stapling device. Compared to a previous protocol20, the team decided to add a per-operative prophylactic antibiotic treatment in order to diminish the morbidity linked to gastrointestinal anastomosis, as is routine in human surgery21.
The rat limb length used in this model was chosen to reproduce the ratio between the BPL and the CL in humans. Preliminary measurements have shown the total small bowel length in rats to be between 90 and 120 cm22. Consequently, the length of the BPL chosen for OAGB was 35 cm. Furthermore, this model is practicable without making any vascular ligation, avoiding gastric pouch ischemia.