The metabolic syndrome of fructose-fed rats: Effects of long-chain polyunsaturated ω3 and ω6 fatty acids. I. Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test

The present series of experiments aim mainly at investigating the possible influence of changes in the com­position of dietary lipids (sunflower oil, salmon oil, safflower oil) upon the metabolic syndrome found in rats exposed to a fructose-rich diet. For purpose of comparison, a control group of rats received the sunflower oil diet with substitution of fructose by starch. An intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, performed after overnight starvation fifty days after the start of the experiments at the 6th week after birth, indicated, as expected, impaired tolerance to glucose and deterioration of insulin sensitivity (HOMA index), without changes in the insulinogenic index, when comparing the fructose-fed rats to the starch-fed rats both exposed to the sunflower oil diet. In the fructose-fed rats, enrichment of the diet by long-chain polyunsaturated ω3 fatty acids supplied by salmon oil, a modest improvement of insulin sensitivity was opposed, in term of glucose homeostasis, by a decreased secretory response to glucose of insulin-producing cells. Last, in the fructose-fed rats, the partial substitution of sunflower oil by safflower oil rich in long-chain polyunsaturated ω6 fatty acids further deteriorated glucose homeostasis, with a higher mean HOMA index and a severe decrease of the insulinogenic index. These findings justify further investigations on such items as the time course for changes in metabolic and hormonal variables and both the metabolic and secretory responses of isolated pancreatic islets to selected nutrient secretagogues.