Dietary fructose but not starch is responsible for hyperlipidemia associated with copper deficiency in rats: Effect of high-fat diet

Objective: To test the hypothesis that copper deficiency in rats may be hyp erlipidemic only when the diets consumed contain nutrients which contribute to blood lipids such as fructose and high fat. Methods: Weanling male Sprague Dawley rats were fed diets which contained e ither starch or fructose as their sole carbohydrate source. The diets were either inadequate (0.6 mu g Cu/g) or adequate (6.0 mu g Cu/g) in copper and contained either high (300 g/kg) or low (60 g/kg) fat. At the end of the 4 th week the rats were killed. Livers were analyzed for copper content. Plas ma was analyzed for cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Results: High-fat diet did not increase blood lipids in rats fed a copper-d eficient diet containing starch. In contrast, the combination of high-fat d iet with fructose increased blood triglycerides and fructose with copper de ficiency resulted in a significant increases in blood cholesterol. Conclusions: Hyperlipidemia of copper deficiency in rats is dependent on sy nergistic effects between dietary fructose and copper deficiency and fructo se and amount of dietary fat. Hyperlipidemia does not develop if starch is the main source of dietary carbohydrate in a copper-deficient diet even if a high-fat diet is fed.