A litter of small mammals are born, one of them has poor apetite and does not ga

Question

A litter of small mammals are born, one of them has poor apetite and does not gain weight. parasites, viral, and bacterial infections have been ruled out. a serum hormone panel is ran on the sick animals and the following is found:

thyroid hormone is 10 µg/ml (normal being 5-8)

insulin is 90µg/ml (normal being 90-100)

Ghrelin is 12 µg/ml (normal being 4-6)

Glucagon is 100 µg/ml (normal is 40-50)

Leptin is 5µg/ml (normal is 3-6)

Based on this information, what might be causing the lack of appetite and lack of weight gain?

Explanation / Answer

The litter has increased levels of thyroid hormone, which increases the basal metabolic rate resulting in increased catabolism of proteins and carbohydrate. The glucagon levels are found to be double the normal levels, glucagon is the main catabolic hormone that functions to raise blood glucose concentrations. Glucagon activates glycogenolysis in the liver and also increases catabolism of lipids (lipolysis) in the adipose thissue.

increased protein catabolism as a result of high levels of thyroid hormone leads to muscle wasting and increased glucagon secretion leads to fat loss. This is the cause of lack of weight gain in the animal.

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