Dose-Dependent Effects of Dietary Fat on Development of Obesity in Relation to Intestinal Differential Gene Expression in C57BL/6J Mice

Excessive intake of dietary fat is known to be a contributing factor in the development of obesity. In this study, we determined the dose-dependent effects of dietary fat on the development of this metabolic condition with a focus on changes in gene expression in the small intestine. C57BL/6J mice were fed diets with either 10, 20, 30 or 45 energy% (E%) derived from fat for four weeks (n = 10 mice/diet). We found a significant higher weight gain in mice fed the 30E% and 45E% fat diet compared to mice on the control diet. These data indicate that the main shift towards an obese phenotype lies between a 20E% and 30E% dietary fat intake. Analysis of differential gene expression in the small intestine showed a fat-dose dependent gradient in differentially expressed genes, with the highest numbers in mice fed the 45E% fat diet. The main shift in fat-induced differential gene expression was found between the 30E% and 45E% fat diet. Furthermore, approximately 70% of the differentially expressed genes were changed in a fat-dose dependent manner. Many of these genes were involved in lipid metabolism-related processes and were already differentially expressed on a 30E% fat diet. Taken together, we conclude that up to 20E% of dietary fat, the small intestine has an effective ‘buffer capacity’ for fat handling. From 30E% of dietary fat, a switch towards an obese phenotype is triggered. We further speculate that especially fat-dose dependently changed lipid metabolism-related genes are involved in development of obesity.