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Comparative Study
. 2010 Feb;49(1):1-9.
doi: 10.1007/s00394-009-0042-x. Epub 2009 Jul 22.

Comparison of free fructose and glucose to sucrose in the ability to cause fatty liver

Laura G Sánchez-Lozada  1 , Wei Mu, Carlos Roncal, Yuri Y Sautin, Manal Abdelmalek, Sirirat Reungjui, MyPhuong Le, Takahiko Nakagawa, Hui Y Lan, Xuequing Yu, Richard J Johnson
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of free fructose and glucose to sucrose in the ability to cause fatty liver

Laura G Sánchez-Lozada et al. Eur J Nutr. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Background: There is evidence that disaccharide sucrose produce a greater increase in serum fructose and triglycerides (TGs) than the effect produced by their equivalent monosaccharides, suggesting that long-term exposure to sucrose or fructose + glucose could potentially result in different effects.

Aim of the study: We studied the chronic effects of a combination of free fructose and glucose relative to sucrose on rat liver.

Methods: Rats were fed either a combination of 30% fructose and 30% glucose (FG) or 60% sucrose (S). Control rats were fed normal rat chow (C). All rats were pair fed and were followed for 4 months. After killing, blood chemistries and liver tissue were examined.

Results: Both FG-fed- and S-fed rats developed early features of metabolic syndrome when compared with C. In addition, both diets induced hepatic alterations, including variable increases in hepatic TG accumulation and fatty liver, an increase in uric acid content in the liver, as well as an increase in hepatic levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) measured in liver homogenates.

Conclusions: Diets containing 30% of fructose either as free fructose and glucose, or as sucrose, induce metabolic syndrome, intrahepatic accumulation of uric acid and TGs, increased MCP-1 and TNF-alpha as well as fatty liver in rats. It will be relevant to determine clinically whether pharmacological reduction in uric acid levels might have a therapeutic advantage in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Correlations between serum uric acid at 16 weeks and various parameters. Control (dark filled circle), sucrose (dark filled square), and fructose + glucose (dark filled triangle) rats. UA uric acid
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Liver histology (a, b, c, f) and liver homogenates uric acid and triglycerides (d, e) in rats fed control, sucrose, and fructose + glucose diets. a Control liver (magnification ×400). b Liver from sucrose fed rat (magnification ×400). c Liver from fructose + glucose rat (magnification ×400). Fat macrovesicles are indicated by Asterisks. g Correlation between intrahepatic uric acid and intrahepatic triglycerides
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Serum and liver levels of MCP-1 and TNF-α in rats fed control, sucrose, and fructose + glucose diets
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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