ChREBP deficiency prevents high sucrose diet-induced obesity through reducing sucrase expression

Obesity appears to be a major contributing factor for many health problems. Effective treatments for reducing weight gain, other than caloric restriction and exercise, are limited. The consumption of sugars is a major factor in the development of obesity in part by stimulating the transcription factor, carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP), a process that is driven by de novo lipogenesis. Therefore, we hypothesized that inhibiting the action of ChREBP would be a promising strategy for alleviating these diseases. Using ChREBP deficient mice, the effect of a high intake of sucrose on body weight and blood glucose levels were investigated. Unlike wild type mice, ChREBP deficient mice did not gain much weight and their blood glucose and cholesterol levels remained relatively constant. In tracing it’s cause, we found that the levels of expression of sucrase, an enzyme that digests sucrose, and both Glut2 and Glut5, a transporter of glucose and fructose, were not induced by feeding a high sucrose diet in the small intestine of ChREBP deficient mice. Our findings suggest that the inhibition of ChREBP could suppress weight gain even on a high sucrose diet.