RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of a High Fructose Diet on Brown Adipose Tissue Development in Adult Obese NIDDM Rats

Orien L Tulp 

College of Medicine and Graduate Studies, University of Science Arts and Technology, Montserrat

Corresponding Author: Orien L Tulp. College of Medicine and Graduate Studies, University of Science Arts and Technology, Montserrat, British West Indies. MSR1110. E-mail: [email protected]

Received: September 13, 2023                                         Published: September 29, 2023

Citation: Orien LT. Effect of a High Fructose Diet on Brown Adipose Tissue Development in Adult Obese NIDDM Rats. Int J Complement Intern Med. 2023;5(1):224–235. DOI: 10. 58349/IJCIM. 1. 5. 2023. 00136

Copyright: ©2023 Tulp. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.

Abstract 

In a recent article, the merits of brown adipose tissue as an efficient potential energy buffer that when deficient, may be a contributor to excess fat accretion and in the development of obesity. As such, it offers to be a potential target for therapies that could be developed in its treatment. To determine the effects of dietary fructose consumption on development and cellularity of brown adipose tissue in NIDDM, groups of lean and obese SHR/Ntul//-cp rats demonstrating insulin resistance (IR) were fed diets containing 54% (w/w) carbohydrate as cornstarch (CS diet) or equal parts CS plus fructose (CSF diet) plus essential proteins fats, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber from one to nine months of age. The SHR/Ntul//-cp rat is a congenic animal model in which the only genetic difference between the phenotypes is the epigenetic expression of the obese (-cp) trait, where it is accompanied by the development of chronic IR and non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM) soon after weaning in the obese phenotype. Weight gain of obese >> lean and was greater when fed the CSF than the CS diet in both phenotypes with either diet; Interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) mass of obese >> Lean and was similar in both phenotypes. IBAT Mass : Body weight of Obese >> lean, and trended greater in lean CSF vs CS but less in Obese CSF vs CS. IBAT cell size of obese >> lean, and the CS vs CSF diet was similar in lean but decreased in the obese phenotype. IBAT cell number of obese >>> lean, while IBAT cell number of lean CSF > lean CS, but IBAT cell number of obese was similar with both diets. Lipoprotein lipase activity (LPL) of lean >> obese and trended to be greater with the CSF than the CS diet in both phenotypes, and IBAT tissue lipid content of obese >> lean with a trend toward CSF > CS in both phenotypes. These results indicate that IBAT development occurs via hyperplasia and hypertrophy in the Obese phenotype of this strain, and that long term consumption of the high Fructose diet enhances IBAT cellularity in the lean phenotype while the IBAT cellularity was maximally enhanced by both diets in the obese phenotype. 

These results further indicate that the impact of long-term consumption of a high fructose diet impacts the development of IBAT mass and cellularity differentially in the lean and obese+NIDDM phenotype, likely at least in part due to contributions of longstanding IR in the obese+NIDDM animals. Because IR is known to impede cellular glucose uptake in isolated brown adipocytes as an essential process in the expression of cellular thermogenic responses, any potential mechanisms to override or bypass the process or to decrease the magnitude of IR would be presumed to exert a beneficial effect. Since fructose may enter tissues independently of insulin actions, it may enhance the potential for expression of IBAT development and the expression of non-shivering thermogenesis in response to alterations in diet and environment, but overall fructose consumption was found to be neither remarkably beneficial nor ameliorative in resolving critical parameters of brown adipose tissue expression as contributors to the development of obesity in the obese phenotype present study.

Keywords: Obesity, Brown Fat, NIDDM, Insulin Resistance, Rat

References 

1. World Health Organization. Obesity and Overweight. 2021. 

2. CDC, Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in the United States. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC report. 2022. 

3. Davenport L. Unlocking the Secrets of Brown Fat. Medscape. News & Perspective Drugs & Diseases CME & Education Academy Video Decision Point Perspective . Medscape Diabetes & Endocrinology. 2023. Pp 1-4. 

4. Bray GA. Energy and Fructose from Beverages Sweetened with Sugar or High-Fructose Corn Syrup Pose a Health Risk for Some People. Adv Nutr. 2013;4:220–225. 

5. Douard V, Ferraris RP. Regulation of the Fructose Transporter GLUT5 in Health and Disease. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2008;295: E227–E237. 

6. Granner DK, Mayes PA, Murray RK, et al. Harpers Illustrated Biochemistry, McGraw-Hill Pubs. 2012. 

7. Gessner K. Historie Animalium: Lib I De Quadrupedibus viviparis. 1554. 

8. Tanuma Y, Tamamoto M, Ito T, et al. The occurrence of brown adipose tissue in perirenal fat in Japanese. Arch Histol Jpn. 1975;38(1):43-70. 

9. Tanuma Y, M Ohata M, Ito T. Possible function of human brown adipose tissue as suggested by observation on perirenal brown fats from necropsy cases of variable age groups. Arch Histol Jpn. 1976;39(2):117-45. 

10. Cannon B, Nedergaard J. Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance. Physiol Rev. 2004; 84:277–359. 

11. Himms Hagen J.Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, energy balance, and obesity. Can J Biochem Cell Biol. 1984;62(7):610-617. 

12. Himms Hagen J. Thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue as an energy buffer. Implications for obesity. N Engl J Med. 1984;311(24):1549-1558. 

13. Bukowiecki LJ, Collet AJ, Follea N, et al. Brown adipose tissue hyperplasia: a fundamental mechanism of adaptation to cold and hyperphagia. Am J Physiol. 1982;242: E353-E359. 

14. Tulp OL, D Root, R Frink. Pharmacologic-induced alterations in brown adipose tissue morphology. Anat Rec. 1981;199(3):259-260A.