Obesity Development and Signs of Metabolic Abnormalities in Young Göttingen Minipigs Consuming Energy Dense Diets Varying in Carbohydrate Quality

Consumption of fructose has been associated with a higher risk of developing obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to examine the long-term effects of fructose compared to starch from high-amylose maize starch (HiMaize) at ad libitum feeding in a juvenile Göttingen Minipig model with 20% of the diet provided as fructose as a high-risk diet (HR, n = 15) and 20% as HiMaize as a lower-risk control diet (LR, n = 15). The intake of metabolizable energy was on average similar (p = 0.11) among diets despite increased levels of the satiety hormone PYY measured in plasma (p = 0.0005) of the LR pigs. However, after over 20 weeks of ad libitum feeding, no difference between diets was observed in daily weight gain (p = 0.103), and a difference in BW was observed only at the end of the experiment. The ad libitum feeding promoted an obese phenotype over time in both groups with increased plasma levels of glucose (p = 0.005), fructosamine (p < 0.001), insulin (p = 0.03), and HOMA-IR (p = 0.02), whereas the clinical markers of dyslipidemia were unaffected. When compared to the LR diet, fructose did not accelerate the progression of MetS associated parameters and largely failed to change markers that indicate a stimulated de novo lipogenesis.