SummaryThe use of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) has been studied for years in an attempt to elucidate their effects in food intake and body weight in animals. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is evidence that the use of MCT reduces consumption and body weight gain in rats, a species chosen as it has been widely used as an animal model in different surveys. A search of scientific work was performed in November 2011 on two bases: 'Web of Science' and 'PubMed'. The terms sample size and homogeneity, randomisation, food consumption and weight gain, body composition, enzyme activity and hormonal activity in rats were used as selection criteria. Thirteen papers were selected after the refinement of the research. Twelve studies measured weight gain and among these, seven detected a decrease in weight gain and five found no differences. Twelve papers also measured food intake and among these, four detected a decrease in consumption, one detected an increase and seven found no differences. Based on established criteria for the ranking of scientific papers, it is concluded that there is strong evidence that MCTs can effectively reduce the consumption and subsequent weight gain of animals. However, in the long term, there may not be differences in results depending on the phenotypic adaptation of animals to a new metabolic condition.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of coffee drinking on clinical markers of diabetes and metabolic syndrome in Zucker rats. Diabetic Zucker rats with metabolic syndrome and control Zucker rats were used for in vivo tests. The animals received daily doses of coffee drink by gavage for 30 days. After the treatment, the levels of glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol and fractions, creatinine, uric acid, activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were evaluated. Urea and creatinine levels were also analyzed in urine. By collaborating in the modulation of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus type 2, coffee drink helped in reducing serum glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides. The results demonstrate that treatment with roasted coffee drink, because of its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect, is efficient in the protection of animals with metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus type 2.

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Interaction between ractopamine and growth hormone in the metabolism of hypophysectomized female rats. Ractopamine and growth hormone have been extensively studied due to their ability to generate a better partition of nutrients in the body, providing an increased muscle protein synthesis and lipolysis in adipose tissue. Thus, this article aims to check the effects of interaction between these substances on the metabolism of hypophysectomized female rats, and their individual effects on the body composition of these animals. Thirty Fisher rats were distributed into five treatments, one of them was a normal control group, one was a hypophysectomized control group, and the other three were hypophysectomized animal groups treated with ractopamine (80 mg/kg/day), with growth hormone (4 mg/kg/day), and with a combination of them, all with six replicates in each group. The association between these substances provided a higher percentage of protein and decreased ether extract in the animals' carcass. Furthermore, it caused an increase in water intake, in urine production, and decreased relative weight of kidneys, liver, and spleen when compared to the control group. The use of growth hormone provided a higher final weight gain and feeding effectiveness, lower heart weight and increased blood glucose level, and the use of ractopamine resulted in a higher lung weight, increased total cholesterol and IGF-1, and decreased peptide C concentration.