Effects of age, strain, and dietary carbohydrate on the hepatic metabolism of male rats.

The effects of age and the duration of feeding either a 65% sucrose or a 65% starch diet to normolipemic Wistar and potentially hyperlipemic-hyperglycemic BHE male rats on hepatic metabolite levels, calculated redox and phosphorylation states were studied. Consistent with previous reports, the feeding of sucrose to BHE rats hastened the appearance of hyperlipemia while having little effect in Wistar rats. The changes in hepatic metabolites were consistent with an increased hepatic lipogenesis in BHE rats. The results suggest that the effects of feeding sucrose to BHE rats potentiate the genetically increased hepatic lipogenesis in these rats.