Metabolic and hormonal indices in rats with a prolonged model of the metabolic syndrome induced by a high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet

To develop approaches for the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome (MS), a pathological state widespread in the modern population, that involves a complex of metabolic and functional disorders, appropriate animal models of the MS are required. One of these models is induced by the consumption of a combined high-carbohydrate and high-fat (HC/HF) diet. However, the character, temporal dynamics and severity of the metabolic abnormalities in MS induced by the HC/HF diet are still poorly understood. The aim of this work was to characterize the metabolic changes in Wistar rats with the MS induced by a 10- and 15-week HC/HF diet which included the consumption of a 30% sucrose solution (instead of drinking water) and food rich in saturated fats. The rats which received the HC/HF diet for 15 weeks had a number of features characteristic of the MS such as increased body mass and a specific content of abdominal fat, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinaemia, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, as well as the markers of impaired function of the cardiovascular system, hyperhomocysteinemia, a reduced level of nitric oxide and increased concentration of endothelin-1. In the rats, which were on the diet for 10 weeks, the metabolic abnormalities were less pronounced, indicating an insufficiency of a 10-week duration of the HC/HF diet for the MS induction. Thus, the model of the MS induced by a 15-week HC/HF diet has the characteristic features which allow for extrapolation of the obtained data to similar pathologic changes in humans, and can be used in the study of the etiology and pathogenesis of the MS and in the search for effective ways of MS prevention and treatment.