Differential Effects of Sucrose, Fructose and Glucose on Carbohydrate-Induced Obesity in Rats

Abstract

Caloric intakes, body weights, plasma glucose levels and glucose tolerance were examined in male Sprague-Dawley rats given a single standard diet or the standard diet and one of four sources of sugar: 1) a 32% glucose solution, 2) a 32 % fructose solution, 3) a 32% sucrose solution or 4) granulated sucrose. After 50 days, blood was collected from fasted animals for analyses of serum glucose, triglycerides and insulin levels. Livers, kidneys, epididymal and retroperitoneal fat depots and intrascapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) were removed and weighed. Animals given sugar solutions and the standard diet consumed significantly more calories, gained more weight and had significantly more retroperitoneal fat than controls given only the standard diet. Although rats given granulated sucrose and the standard diet did not eat more, they did gain significantly more weight per kilocalorie consumed and had more retroperitoneal fat than controls. Rats given the sucrose solution had significantly more BAT than controls or rats given the fructose solution or granulated sucrose. Rats receiving glucose had significantly more BAT than controls. Access to the fructose or sucrose solutions led to a decreased ability to tolerate an oral glucose load. Animals given fructose had significantly greater serum triglyceride levels than controls or rats given the glucose or sucrose solutions.

Effects of Green Tea Extract and Lactobacillus Casei Strain Shirota on Levels of Serum Minerals, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Glucose and Lactate in Rats Fed on High-carbohydrate and High-lipid Diets

“…Diets containing high amounts of carbohydrate, such as fructose, have been shown to cause weight gain and increase plasma triglyceride concentrations 33,34 . In a previous study it was shown that the rats fed on high-carbohydrate diets containing either a fructose/ glucose mixture or honey had a hypertriglyceridemia reaction and an increased lipid peroxidation 35 .…”

Opioid-Dependent Anticipatory Negative Contrast and Binge-Like Eating in Rats with Limited Access to Highly Preferred Food

“…By the end of the study, chow/preferred-fed rats had gained 88% more body weight, owing to preferential accretion of visceral body fat, which increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic disease (Despres, 1993;Wajchenberg, 2000). The greater feed efficiency of chow/preferred-fed rats may result from the sucrose content of the preferred diet (Kanarek et al, 1987;Kanarek and Orthen-Gambill, 1982) as well as the acquired habit of consuming large energy loads following self-imposed periods of relative hypophagia (Batista et al, 1997). This self-determined 'meal-fed'-like pattern of sustained dietary restraint interrupted predictably by a single large meal/binge models eating patterns of some dieters and patients with eating disorders and, via greater prandial insulin responses (Calderon et al, 2004;Taylor et al, 1999), may promote lipogenesis.…”

Treatment with the 5-HT3 antagonist tropisetron modulates glucose-induced obesity in mice

“…For example, these studies showed that high glucose consumption causes an increase in body weight and abdominal fat associated with an increased protein oxidation induced by hyperglycemia, and that carbohydrate-induced obesity is not dependent on the sweet taste of carbohydrates. 6,21,22 Another important mechanism through which the intake of carbohydrates and particularly a glucose intake may be regulated is through a modulation of the intestinal serotonergic system. Indeed, previous studies have indicated that intestinal 5-HT3R might be involved in the detection and control of carbohydrate intake, such as glucose.…”