Table 3.

Characterization of the animals according to the dietary intervention

	Control	DIO	DIOcit–stat	DIOstat	DIOcit
Body composition (otherwise stated, n = 5 per group)
Lean mass (g)A	22.85 ± 0.85	24.07 ± 0.65	23.58 ± 0.59	22.13 ± 0.47	23.10 ± 0.73
Fat mass (g)A	1.17 ± 0.11	2.51 ± 0.17*	1.79 ± 0.12$	2.18 ± 0.19*	2.34 ± 0.24*
Liver (mg)B	853 ± 39	972 ± 34	925 ± 12	1000 ± 72	1019 ± 51
Leg muscle (mg)B	743 ± 29	752 ± 23	762 ± 4	728 ± 17	759 ± 7
Epidydimal fat (mg)B (n = 20 per group)	149 ± 14	333 ± 97*	254 ± 26$	337 ± 46*	313 ± 28*
Calorimetric chamber measurements (n = 4 per group)
Daily EE (kJ g−1 LM−1 day−1)	1.31 ± 0.03	1.10 ± 0.06*	1.14 ± 0.01*	1.18 ± 0.03*	1.20 ± 0.03*
Daily RQ	0.97 ± 0.01	0.82 ± 0.03*	0.86 ± 0.01*	0.82 ± 0.01*	0.85 ± 0.01*
Plasma concentrations (n = 10 per group)
Triglycerides (g L−1)	0.40 ± 0.02	0.52 ± 0.04$	0.42 ± 0.02	0.45 ± 0.01	0.44 ± 0.01
Free fatty acids (mM)	0.53 ± 0.02	0.71 ± 0.03*	0.57 ± 0.05	0.63 ± 0.02*	0.64 ± 0.01*
Glucose (g L−1)	1.31 ± 0.05	1.70 ± 0.10$	1.28 ± 0.05	1.32 ± 0.05	1.47 ± 0.10
Insulin (ng mL−1)	0.50 ± 0.03	1.03 ± 0.12$	0.63 ± 0.04	0.53 ± 0.03	0.48 ± 0.03

Results are means ± SEM. Dietary interventions: standard diet (control), high fat–high sucrose diet (DIO), and DIO enriched in citrulline (2.5 g∙kg⁻¹) (DIOcit), atorvastatin (10 mg∙kg⁻¹) (DIOstat) or citrulline and atorvastatin (DIOcit–stat). Leg muscle mass is the sum of the two tibialis, soleus, gastrocnemius and quadriceps muscle mass; Daily EE, energy expenditure measured over 24 h; Daily RQ, respiratory quotient measured over 24 h; LM, lean mass.

^A Measured using EchoMRI;

^B Measured at death.

^* P < 0.05, significantly different from controls;

^$ P < 0.05, significantly different from control and other DIO groups.