title: Diet cycling and age alter weight gain and insulin levels in rats.
abstract: For assessment of the effect of diet cycling on body weight gain patterns, 3-mo-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were either cycled from chow to a high-energy condensed milk (CM) diet, back to chow, and then back to CM diet at 3-mo intervals (cyclers) or were fed chow to 9 mo of age and then CM diet for 3 mo (noncyclers). Nine of 21 cyclers developed diet-induced obesity (DIO), gaining 36, 59, and 281% more weight than chow-fed controls (CF) at each cycle, respectively. Twelve cycled rats were diet-resistant (DR) with comparable weight gain to CF rats after the first CM diet and chow cycles. However, they gained 202% more than CF rats and 50% more, with 29% heavier retroperitoneal fat pads, than noncycled DR rats after their second CM diet cycle begun at 9 mo of age. Enhanced weight gain in DR cyclers was probably due to enhanced food efficiency in the last few weeks of CM diet intake. Plasma insulin levels were 70% higher in cycled vs. noncycled DIO and DR rats, and both were higher than CF rats. Unlike 6-mo-old DR rats in a prior study, 12-mo-old noncycled DR rats after 3 mo on CM diet here had 45-172% higher alpha 2-adrenoceptors binding in 6 of 17 brain areas than noncycled DIO and/or CF rats. Thus age, diet cycling, and brain alpha 2-adrenoceptors interact to affect long-term changes in weight gain and metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey 07018.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Levin
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D012187:Retroperitoneal Space; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha