Both sexes of mice were fed a high fat diet (HFD) for 10 weeks without and with polyphenolic-rich potato extracts (PRPE) of cultivars Onaway and Russet Burbank. PRPE attenuated weight gain in male and female mice by as much as 63.2%, which was associated mostly with a reduction in adiposity. Mice receiving PRPE showed enhanced capacity for blood glucose clearance. Sex differences regarding the impact of HFD and PRPE on plasma levels of insulin, ghrelin, leptin, gastric inhibitory peptide, and resistin were noted. PRPE may serve as part of a preventative dietary strategy against the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Background/Aims: Sex differences in gene expression program have not been effectively explored at the transcriptome level. We aimed to develop a method for the analysis of transcriptome data to identify sex differences and sex-dimorphic responses to experimental conditions in mice. Methods: Profiling of the small intestine transcriptome of chow-fed C57BL/6J (wild-type, WT) and Fabp2^–/– mice was carried out by microarray analysis. Sex-specific and androgynous effects of Fabp2 gene ablation were examined using FlexArray V1.6 by comparing WT to Fabp2^–/– mice. The data generated were exported into a single spreadsheet, collated and transformed to identify the differentially expressed genes for pathway analysis. Results: The method revealed enrichment of 17 sex-dimorphic pathways in the small intestine of WT mice compared to only 4 in Fabp2^–/– mice. Comparison of the effects of Fabp2 loss in individual sexes revealed a male-specific upregulation of 5 pathways involved in the production of unsaturated fatty acids, and a female-specific downregulation of pathways involved in xenobiotic metabolism. Conclusions: Our approach detected the common as well as sex-differential pathways that are modified due to the loss of Fabp2. These findings suggest that the pathways involved in nutrient and xenobiotic metabolism in the intestine are regulated by sex-specific mechanisms.