Lipid response to female gonadal hormones of female rats fed a high glucose or a high fructose diet.

Sexually mature female rats were given, for 11 weeks, diets high in fructose or glucose and at the same time oestrogen and progestogen were administered both singly and together. Analysis of the lipids in the liver, serum and adipose tissue was carried out after ingestion of 14C-fructose or glucose. Oestrogen lowered the liver triglyceride level but raised the serum triglyceride concentration. Progestogen tended to raise both cholesterol and triglyceride levels in liver and serum and it also caused a greater increase in body weight than in control or in the oestrogen animals. An increased specific activity was seen at first in the adipose tissue of the glucose-fed rats receiving the hormones. Overall, there was a tendency for the female gonadal hormones to exaggerate the changes brought about by the high carbohydrate diets.