Chronic sucrose intake increases expression of SREBP-1c and inflammatory response genes in rat kidneys without significant changes in long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid content

We studied the influence of long-term treatment with sucrose in drinking water on the kidney histology, inflammation gene expression and lipogenesis. Male Wistar rats were supplemented with 30% sucrose (w/v) in water (MetSyn group) or with plain water (Control group). Kidney histology showed that the sucrose treated rats had increased renal lipid content and glomerulosclerosis. TGF-beta 1 and TNF-alpha gene expression was also increased in the MetSyn group indicating low-grade inflammation. The fatty acid profile was characterized by increased saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and a decrease in C18 essential fatty acids. The content of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids did not decrease despite the decrease in the content of their precursors. Neither the expression nor the protein quantity of delta-5 desaturase increased, indicating that renal delta-5-desatuaration is not important for the preservation of the kidney arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid content in metabolic syndrome. The expression of SREBP-1c transcriptional factor increased two-fold in the MetSyn group, indicating increased renal lipogenesis in the sucrose treated rats. In conclusion, the results show that chronic sucrose intake induces glomerulosclerosis, low-grade inflammation, increases saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and decreases C18 fatty acids without further decrease in arachidonic and docosahexaenoic fatty acids content.