Excessive intakes of simple sugars have been associated with negative health outcomes, whereas food rich in fermentable dietary fiber have been associated with beneficial health effects through different mechanisms. We aimed to investigate the effects of isocaloric diets high in fructose-, galactose- and starch on metabolic-, inflammation- and gut health parameters in a rat model. We further investigated whether addition of highly fermentable fructooligosaccharides (FOS) could ameliorate potential negative effects of fructose and galactose. Healthy young male rats were randomly divided into seven treatment groups (n=12 per group). Each treatment group was provided with different carbohydrates as follows: 1. Starch (control 1), 2. Fructose, 3. Galactose, 4. Starch + FOS (control 3), 5. Fructose + FOS, 6. Galactose + FOS, together with high amount of omega-6 fatty acids (n-6) to stimulate inflammation, respectively and 7. Starch+Olive (negative control) without n-6. Rats were kept at 25°C with 12h light/12h dark cycle with free access to water for 12 weeks treatment. A group with six rats was sacrificed at day 0. The rats (n=6 from each group) were sacrificed at the end of week 6 and week 12 by decapitation after CO2 anesthesia. Body weight (BW) and energy intake were recorded weekly and blood glucose concentration were measured at baseline, week 6 and week 12. Blood and organs were collected and kept at -80°C prior analysis. Metabolic, inflammation and gut health parameters including insulin, advanced glycation end products (AGEs), uric acid, creatinine, urea, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglycerides, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein/ very low density lipoprotein (LDL/VLDL), c-reactive protein (CRP), zonulin and endotoxin were selected and measured by using standard protocols and precise. We found that rats in the galactose and galactose+FOS groups had lower BW compared with control (starch). Insulin concentrations were higher and total cholesterol was lower in galactose+FOS and starch+olive groups compared with the starch group after 6wk. Zonulin and endotoxin concentrations were higher in the galactose and galactose+FOS groups compared with control (starch) after 6wk and lower after 12wk, respectively. The results of this study suggest that higher intake of fructose and galactose in the diet as well as additional of FOS could affect the metabolic factors and intestinal permeability biomarkers in a rat model.

13th European Nutrition Conference, FENS 2019| Malnutrition in an Obese World:European Perspectives