Golden Syrian hamsters are small rodents, but they display many features that resemble the physiology and metabolism of humans. Hamsters have been widely used in many research areas, including carcinogenesis1, reproduction2, virology3, diabetes4 and cardiovascular diseases5. With respect to lipid and glucose metabolism, hamsters, like humans, exhibit high levels of cholesteryl ester transport protein (CETP), intestinal-only ApoB editing, low levels of hepatic low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity6 and a high glycemic response to dietary fructose7, all of which are not observed in other rodents such as mice and rats. Consequently, hamsters, like humans, exhibit enhanced susceptibility to atherosclerosis (AS) and diabetes8, which led to the widespread use of hamsters in studies on AS and diabetes.