W. Bartley

Effect of dietary carbohydrate on hepatic lipogenesis in the rat.

IT has been suggested that dietary sucrose is implicated in the aetiology of ischaemic heart disease1. If this were so, dietary sucrose would produce different metabolic effects from other dietary carbohydrates. In man and experimental animals, substitution of sucrose for starch in the diet can result in diminished growth, increased concentrations of serum cholesterol and alterations in liver lipids2–4. Elevated concentrations of plasma triglyceride result in man from eating sucrose5–6 or fructose7 as compared with glucose, while the substitution of fructose or sucrose for glucose or starch in the diets of rats causes an increased liver lipid content8. These results suggest that the effects of sucrose are caused by the fructose content of the sugar.