A comparison of dietary starch and dietary sucrose in the pig

Seven litter-mate pairs of male crossbred pigs were fed diets in which 50% of the dry weight was either corn starch or sucrose for 1 year. Unlike reports of two similar experiments published since our work was carried out, no lesions of the cardiovascular system were found in any of the animals at the end of the experiment. The sucrose-fed animals differed from those fed starch in the following respects: growth was faster during the first 9 weeks of the experiment, but became significantly slower during the remaining 43 weeks, with a less efficient food conversion. The pancreas was about 30% smaller but with no difference in gross or histological appearance. In the plasma there was a transient increase in concentration of insulin, a decrease in albumin, and a decrease in activities of glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase. No significant changes in plasma cholesterol and triglyceride, phospholipid or glucose were observed.