Obesity and metabolic disease have arisen to be of paramount concern in public health all over the world. Adipokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines are secreted by the adipose tissue and exert systemic metabolic and immunological effects. Numerous cell culture models have been established for the in vitro research of the potential anti-obesity properties of dietary and drug compounds. In vivo testing of the bioactivity of nutritional compounds is fundamental before any safe conclusions can be drawn for the effectiveness and safety of a dietary supplement. There is a vast variety of genetic animal models, as well as non-genetic animal models, which result from interventions such as dietary, chemical or surgical. Moreover, intestinal inflammation constitutes the fundamental characteristic of celiac disease and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Several intestinal inflammation animal models are available, which can be categorized as spontaneous colitis, chemically inducible colitis, genetically modified, and adoptive transfer models.

Konstantinos Axarlis, Christos Tsatsanis (University of Crete)