"Metabolic memory": effect of antecedent dietary manipulations on subsequent diet-induced response of rats. I. Effects on body weight, food intakes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and malic enzyme.

Abstract

Starvation followed by refeeding a 65% glucose diet led to elevated levels of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme activity. A second starve–refeed episode led to even greater enzyme responses. Food intake and body weight gain were increased by one, and further increased by a second, starve–refeed episode. Prefeeding a 65% fructose or sucrose diet ad libitum (which results in elevated enzyme levels comparable with the effect of one starve–refeed episode) was not accompanied by increased food intake or body-weight gain, nor did such treatment increase the enzyme response to subsequent starvation–refeeding. Previous starvation, however, did increase the subsequent enzyme response to feeding ad libitum a diet containing sucrose or invert sugar. The enzyme response was greater when the sucrose-containing diet was fed, and the diet effect was independent of the treatment effect. The results suggest that: (1) the metabolic consequences of starvation–refeeding are longer lasting than the metabolic consequences of feeding fructose or sucrose, (2) the effect of dietary sucrose is greater than the effect of an equal amount of invert sugar, (3) the metabolic effects of dietary fructose and sucrose may be mediated by different mechanisms than the corresponding effects of starvation–refeeding.