High-fat diet action on adiposity, inflammation, and insulin sensitivity depends on the control low-fat diet

Feeding C57bl6/J mice a high-fat diet (HFD) for 11 weeks led to varied conclusions about metabolic effects depending on the control diet used.

• The impact of the HFD on body weight gain, insulin sensitivity, and adipose tissue inflammation varied based on whether a low-fat chow diet or a semisynthetic low-fat diet was used as a control.
• Epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissue responses, along with effects on liver and muscle lipids, cholesterol, and markers of inflammation, remained consistent regardless of the control diet.
• Some negative effects associated with the HFD may relate more to the quality of ingredients in the semisynthetic diet rather than just fat overconsumption.
• Conflicting conclusions about the metabolic effects of increased fat intake were observed depending on the type of low-fat diet used for comparison.
• The ingredient composition of the diet may significantly influence the interpretation of lipid-related effects from HFDs.

AI simplified