d-Psicose, an Epimer of d-Fructose, Favorably Alters Lipid Metabolism in Sprague–Dawley Rats

Abstract

D-Psicose, a C3 epimer of D-fructose, is known to lower body weight and adipose tissue weight and affect lipid metabolism. The precise mechanism remains unknown. It has been reported that D-psicose has a short half-life and is not metabolized in the body. To determine how D-psicose modifies lipid metabolism, rats were fed diets with or without 3% D-psicose for 4 weeks. Rats were decapitated without fasting every 6 h over a period of 24 h. Changes in serum and liver lipid levels, liver enzyme activity, and gene expression were quantified in experiment 1. Rats fed D-psicose had significantly lower serum insulin and leptin levels. Liver enzyme activities involved in lipogenesis were significantly lowered by the D-psicose diet, whereas gene expression of a transcriptional modulator of fatty acid oxidation was enhanced. In experiment 2, feeding the D-psicose diet gave significantly lower body weight (389 ± 3 vs 426 ± 6 g, p < 0.05) and food intake (23.8 ± 0.2 vs 25.7 ± 0.4 g/day, p < 0.05) compared to the control diet. Rats fed the D-psicose diet gave significantly higher energy expenditure in the light period and fat oxidation in the dark period compared to rats fed the control diet, whereas carbohydrate oxidation was lower. In summary, these results indicate that the D-psicose diet decreases lipogenesis, increases fatty acid oxidation, and enhances 24 h energy expenditure, leading to d-psicose's potential for weight management.

Rare sugar d-allulose: Potential role and therapeutic monitoring in maintaining obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus

“…Subsequently, the same group reported that there was no difference in serum TG levels between rats fed diets with or without D-allulose for 12 months (Yagi and Matsuo, 2009 somewhat higher TG levels with D-allulose, without a significant difference compared to controls, while hepatic TG levels tended to be lower than in controls (Nagata et al, 2015). In addition, plasma TG levels in db/db mice fed D-allulose were not different from animals fed the control diet for 28 days, while hepatic TG was significantly decreased (Baek et al, 2010).…”

“…A potential mechanism that could account for these observations is enhanced 24-hr energy expenditure with a 5% D-allulose diet (Ochiai et al, 2014), with enhanced fat oxidation and reduced carbohydrate oxidation (Nagata et al, 2015) compared to a control diet.…”

“…Both of these enzymes regulate the rate-limiting steps in hepatic gluconeogenic flux and therefore contribute to hyperglycemia in diabetes (Herling et al, 1998). Feeding a D-allulose-containing diet to rats resulted in significantly reduced G6Pase activity, thereby controlling blood glucose levels and exerting hypolipidemic affects (Nagata et al 2015), although the effect on PEPCK has yet to be evaluated.…”

Comparison of Anti-Obesity Effect between Two Types of Syrup Containing Rare Sugars in Wistar Rats

“…In animal studies investigating the anti-obesity effects of d-allulose, d-allulose content in the diet was mainly set at the level of 3% (27) or 5% (11,12,15,28), although the carbohydrate source in the diets and the animal model varied depending on studies. Our previous study (28) reported that a 5% d-allulose diet for 8 wk significantly suppressed body fat accumulation and increased energy expenditure in rats fed a sucrose-based diet.…”

“…Our previous study (28) reported that a 5% d-allulose diet for 8 wk significantly suppressed body fat accumulation and increased energy expenditure in rats fed a sucrose-based diet. Nagata et al (27) reported that a 3% d-allulose diet for 4 wk favorably altered fat metabolism by increasing energy expenditure and fat oxidation in rats fed a starch-based diet. Considering the previous findings, d-allulose content (3.3%) in the MGS diet is supposed to be sufficient to improve fat metabolism.…”