Hepatic Safety in Rats Fed on Fructose, Glucose, or Sucrose When Combine with A Moderate Fat Diet

Consumption of sweets, primarily fructose, and high-fat diets has notably increased in recent years. This food pattern highly associated with the widespread prevalence of obesity and its subsequent health problems, This study aimed to assess the detrimental effects of consuming animal fat plus either fructose, glucose, or sucrose in amounts that matched their realistic proportions in human meals. Sixty male albino rats were divided randomly into four groups (15/group). During 64 weeks, control group was fed a normal diet, every other group was given a moderate-fat diet (MFD) mixed with different fructose (F-MFD group), glucose (G-MFD group) and sucrose (S-MFD group). Compared to normal rats, there was a significant rise in serum triglycerides of F-MFD, up-regulation of expression of lipogenic genes, ChREBP and SREBP-1c and the proinflammatory gene TNF-alpha with minimal hepatitis. However G-MFD and S-MFD showed similar or lower changes of the same analyzed parameters. Sections of hepatic tissues revealed severe lesions in liver of G-MFD group but normal to mild changes in either F-MFD or S-MFD group. It could be concluded that fructose sugar and fat have minimal morbid effects when consumed with regular concentrations.