Beneficial and deleterious effects of hydroxycitrate in rats fed a high-fructose diet.
OBJECTIVE
The present study assessed whether long-term supplementation of a high-fructose diet with hydroxycitrate (HCA), an inhibitor of de novo lipogenesis that is widely used as a non-prescription dietary aid, decreases food intake, visceral fat accumulation, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperinsulinemia in rats.


METHODS
We examined the effects of HCA (1.8% of diet) on food intake, body weight gain, visceral fat accumulation, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperinsulinemia in rats during a 4-wk period of ad libitum access to a 50% fructose diet after a 3-wk period of food restriction in which they lost about 20% of their body weight.


RESULTS
HCA decreased food intake and weight gain throughout the test and reduced visceral fat accumulation compared with control rats fed ad libitum (CON). Rats that were pair-fed (PF) to the HCA rats showed similar decreases in weight gain and visceral fat. HCA did not ameliorate the hypertriglyceridemia induced by high-fructose feeding. HCA improved insulin sensitivity on day 10 in comparison with CON rats, but by day 27 insulin levels were similarly higher and liver glycogen levels were similarly lower in HCA and CON rats in comparison with PF rats. Liver lipid content was elevated in HCA rats compared with CON and PF rats.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that, although HCA attenuates body weight gain and visceral fat accumulation by reducing food intake under these conditions, it has no lasting beneficial effects on hypertriglyceridemia and hyperinsulinemia and leads to the accumulation of liver lipids.
Brandt
Karsten
K
Institute of Animal Sciences, ETH Zurich, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland.
Langhans
Wolfgang
W
Geary
Nori
N
Leonhardt
Monika
M
D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002951:Citrates / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004347:Drug Interactions; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005632:Fructose / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D006946:Hyperinsulinism / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D002951:Citrates; D005632:Fructose; C007999:hydroxycitric acid