Table 1.

Body composition, organ weights, and serum metabolic profile in cycling rats fed with pelleted chow (chow group) versus a free-choice high-fat, high-sucrose diet (choice group): study 1

	Chow	Choice	P Value
Carcass composition, g
Carcass weight	182.2 ± 4.1 (8)	188.6 ± 3.5 (8)	0.26
Water	123.4 ± 2.9 (8)	118.6 ± 1.3 (8)	0.16
Ash	7.8 ± 0.9 (8)	6.9 ± 0.5 (8)	0.43
Protein	43.5 ± 0.7 (8)	46.8 ± 2.8 (8)	0.28
Fat	7.5 ± 0.5 (8)	19.7 ± 2.3 (8)	0.0002
body mass	166.9 ± 3.1 (8)	165.4 ± 3.9	0.77
Fat pad weights, g/100 g body wt
Periuterine	0.96 ± 0.09 (7)	2.30 ± 0.10 (6)	0.001
Inguinal	0.88 ± 0.05 (8)	1.35 ± 0.09 (8)	0.0004
Mesenteric	0.64 ± 0.06 (8)	1.27 ± 0.09 (8)	<0.0001
Retroperitoneal	0.24 ± 0.03 (8)	0.84 ± 0.05 (8)	<0.0001
IBAT	0.13 ± 0.02 (8)	0.28 ± 0.04 (8)	0.002
Organ weights, g/100 g body wt
Left ventricle	0.23 ± 0.00 (8)	0.25 ± 0.00 (8)	0.002
Right ventricle	0.06 ± 0.00 (8)	0.06 ± 0.00 (8)	0.14
Left kidney	0.31 ± 0.01 (8)	0.29 ± 0.01 (8)	0.01
Right kidney	0.32 ± 0.01 (8)	0.29 ± 0.01 (8)	0.02
Liver composition
Liver weight, g/100 g body wt	3.00 ± 0.09 (8)	3.17 ± 0.17 (8)	0.56
Liver lipid, mg/liver	0.27 ± 0.01 (8)	0.38 ± 0.04 (8)	0.01
Serum metabolic parameters
Leptin, ng/ml	2.0 ± 0.2 (8)	4.4 ± 0.7 (8)	0.01
TG, mg/dl	31.0 ± 2.5 (6)	45.2 ± 3.8 (8)	0.003
Fasting glucose, mg/dl	110 ± 2.43 (8)	122 ± 3.92 (8)	0.01
Fasting insulin, ng/ml	0.21 ± 0.04 (7)	0.19 ± 0.04 (8)	0.52

Data are means ± SE; number of rats is given in parentheses. IBAT, intrascapular brown adipose tissue; TG, triglycerides. Student’s t-test for carcass weight, protein, fat, lean body mass, retroperitoneal adipose tissue, right ventricle, left kidney, right kidney, and leptin. Mann-Whitney U test for other variables.