Effects of a high-protein diet on insulin resistance and body fat in catch-up growth rats born small for gestational age.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to evaluate the effects of a high-protein (HP) diet on insulin resistance and body fat in catch-up growth (CUG) rats born small for gestational age (SGA).


METHODS
SGA rats were randomly divided into standard diet and HP diet groups. Perirenal fat weight and blood glucose, serum insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 levels were measured at 4 and/or 8 weeks. Insulin resistance and β-cell function were evaluated by homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and HOMA%.


RESULTS
The values of HOMA-IR in both CUG-SGA groups were significantly higher than those in the appropriate for gestational age (AGA) group (p < 0.01), whereas they were significantly lower in the HP diet CUG-SGA group than in the standard diet CUG-SGA group at week 8 (p < 0.01). At week 8, perirenal fat weight and adipocyte diameters were higher in both CUG-SGA groups than in the AGA group (p < 0.05), but these values were significantly lower in the HP diet CUG-SGA group than in the standard diet CUG-SGA group (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The HP diet had positive effects on the prevention of insulin resistance, which may have been caused by the reduction of body fat.
Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Hong-Zhu
HZ
Deng
Hong
H
Deng
Yan-Hong
YH
Li
Zhe
Z
Su
Hua-Mei
HM
Ma
Min-Lian
ML
Du
D017667:Adipocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D004044:Dietary Proteins