1: J Nutr  2002 May;132(5):967-73 

Dietary fructans, but not cellulose, decrease triglyceride accumulation in the
liver of obese Zucker fa/fa rats.

Daubioul C, Rousseau N, Demeure R, Gallez B, Taper H, Declerck B, Delzenne N.

Unit of Pharmacokinetics, Metabolism, Nutrition and Toxicology, 7369 School of
Pharmacy, Universite catholique de Louvain, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.

This study was designed to compare the effects of dietary supplementation with
nondigestible carbohydrates, differing in fermentability by colonic bacteria, on
hepatic steatosis in growing obese Zucker rats. Male Zucker fa/fa rats were
divided into three groups: a control group that received the basal diet, a
fructan group that received 10 g highly fermented Synergy 1/100 g diet and a
cellulose group that received 10 g poorly fermented Vivapur Microcrystalline
cellulose/100 g diet. Rats consuming fructan had a lower energy intake, a lower
body weight and less triacylglycerol accumulation in the liver as assessed in
vivo by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and ex vivo by
biochemical and histochemical analysis compared with the control and/or
cellulose groups. The high fermentation of fructans compared with cellulose was
reflected by greater cecal contents and by a twofold greater propionate
concentration in the portal vein of rats fed fructan compared with those fed
cellulose. By measuring the capacity of hepatocytes isolated from liver of
Zucker rats to synthesize triglycerides or total lipids from different
precursors, we showed that propionate, at the concentrations measured in the
portal vein of rats treated with fructan, selectively decreased the
incorporation of acetate into total lipids, a phenomenon that could contribute,
along with the lower energy intake, to less triglyceride accumulation in the
liver of obese Zucker rats fed dietary fructans.

PMID: 11983823 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]