Table 1.
Animal characteristics.
| CON | GLU | FRUC | ASP | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start body weight (g) | 354 | ± | 6 | 347 | ± | 3 | 351 | ± | 3 | 348 | ± | 3 |
| End body weight (g) | 445 | ± | 5 | 444 | ± | 8 | 456 | ± | 5 | 437 | ± | 6 |
| Body weight gain (g) | 92 | ± | 4 | 97 | ± | 6 | 105 | ± | 4 | 89 | ± | 4 |
| Food intake (kJ/week) | 2300 | ± | 25 | 1170 | ± | 24 ***,††† | 1447 | ± | 36 ***,†††,§§§ | 2232 | ± | 35 |
| Food intake (g/week) | 180 | ± | 2 | 91 | ± | 2 ***,††† | 113 | ± | 3 ***,†††,§§§ | 174 | ± | 3 |
| Drink intake (kJ/week) | NA | 1757.9 | ± | 48.7 ††† | 1274.4 | ± | 44.9 †††,§§§ | 13.4 | ± | 0.5 | ||
| Drink intake (mL/week) | 177 | ± | 4 | 808 | ± | 22 ***,††† | 586 | ± | 21 ***,†††,§§§ | 201 | ± | 7 |
| Total energy intake (kJ/week) | 2300 | ± | 25 | 2927 | ± | 35 ***,††† | 2721 | ± | 20 ***,†††,§§§ | 2246 | ± | 36 |
| Amount sweetener (g/kg BW/day) | NA | 36.87 | ± | 1.25 ††† | 26.16 | ± | 1.00 †††,§§§ | 0.28 | ± | 0.01 | ||
| Epididymal fat (g) (n = 36) | 5.8 | ± | 0.2 | 7.5 | ± | 0.4 **,†† | 7.1 | ± | 0.3 *,† | 5.6 | ± | 0.3 |
| Perirenal fat (g) (n = 36) | 5.8 | ± | 0.4 | 9.5 | ± | 0.6 ***,††† | 9.0 | ± | 0.5 ***,††† | 5.8 | ± | 0.4 |
| Plasma TG (mM) | 1.05 | ± | 0.10 | 1.06 | ± | 0.10 | 1.23 | ± | 0.04 † | 0.87 | ± | 0.04 |
| Plasma ALT (U/L) | 24.94 | ± | 2.35 | 21.71 | ± | 3.11 | 51.21 | ± | 8.00 **,§§ | 35.44 | ± | 4.32 |
| Experimental group 1 (n = 9 per diet group) | ||||||||||||
| Liver weight (g) | 10.63 | ± | 0.14 | 9.97 | ± | 0.16 | 11.39 | ± | 0.22 †,§§ | 10.17 | ± | 0.25 |
| Liver glycogen (mg/g ww) | 87 | ± | 10 | 78 | ± | 7 | 75 | ± | 4 | 67 | ± | 6 |
| Experimental group 2 (n = 6 per diet group) | ||||||||||||
| Liver weight (g) | 12.92 | ± | 0.16 ### | 13.08 | ± | 0.64 ### | 16.25 | ± | 0.59 ***,†††,§§§,### | 13.23 | ± | 0.21 ### |
| Liver glycogen (mg/g ww) | 96 | ± | 3 | 118 | ± | 8 ### | 117 | ± | 8 ### | 115 | ± | 8 ### |
| Liver malonyl-CoA (nmol/g ww) | 58.37 | ± | 0.97 | 62.44 | ± | 2.70 | 68.05 | ± | 2.32 *,†† | 56.31 | ± | 1.82 |
Data are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM) of 15 animals per diet group (unless stated otherwise). Experimental group 1 was sacrificed after an overnight fast, while experimental group 2 was sacrificed in a fed condition. CON, normal water control; GLU, 13% (w/v) glucose; FRUC, 13% (w/v) fructose; ASP, 0.4% (w/v) aspartame; NA, not applicable; BW, body weight; TG, triglycerides; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ww, wet weight. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 vs. CON; † p < 0.05, †† p < 0.01, ††† p < 0.001 vs. ASP; §§ p < 0.01, §§§ p < 0.001 vs. GLU; ### p < 0.001 vs. experimental group 1.