Severity of copper deficiency in rats fed fructose is not solely dependent on hepatic copper concentration: effects of adrenalectomy

Abstract

The present study was undertaken in order to establish whether an increase in hepatic copper concentration will ameliorate the severity of copper deficiency when a fructose based diet is consumed. Eighty weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into four dietary groups and were fed a copper deficient (0.6 μg Cu/g) or adequate (6.0 μg Cu/g) diet containing 62% carbohydrate as either starch or fructose. Half of the rats underwent bilateral adrenalectomy and the rest were sham operated. Adrenalectomy was successful in increasing the concentration of hepatic copper in rats fed the copper deficient diet containing fructose compared to sham operated controls. However, the severity of copper deficiency was not ameliorated by these increases. The data suggest that the severity of copper deficiency in rats fed fructose may not be solely dependent on hepatic copper concentration but rather may be due to a combination of subsequent metabolites of fructose superimposed upon copper deficiency.