title: Excess intake of fat and sugar potentiates epinephrine-induced hyperglycemia in male rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Over the past five decades, per capita caloric intake has increased significantly, and diet- and stress-related diseases are more prevalent. The stress hormone epinephrine stimulates hepatic glucose release during a stress response. The present experiment tested the hypothesis that excess caloric intake alters this ability of epinephrine to increase blood glucose.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-energy cafeteria-style diet (HED). Weight gain during the first 5 days on the diet was used to divide the rats into an HED-lean group and HED-obese group. After 9 weeks, the rats were injected with epinephrine, and blood glucose was measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HED-obese rats gained body and fat mass, and developed insulin resistance (IR) and hepatic steatosis. HED-lean and control rats did not differ. Epinephrine produced larger increases in blood glucose in the HED-obese rats than in the HED-lean and control rats. Removing the high-energy components of the diet for 4 weeks reversed the potentiated effects of epinephrine on glucose and corrected the IR but not the steatosis or obesity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumption of a high-energy cafeteria diet potentiates epinephrine-induced hyperglycemia. This effect is associated with insulin resistance but not adiposity or steatosis and is reversed by 4 weeks of standard chow.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5030, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA.
authors.forename: Amy P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5030, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA.
authors.forename: Jenna N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Darling
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5030, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA. Electronic address: mbparent@gsu.edu.
authors.forename: Marise B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Parent
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004837:Epinephrine
keywords: Cafeteria-style diet; Insulin resistance; Non-alcoholic fatty liver; Obesity; Steatosis