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Dietary copper, simple sugars, and metabolic changes in pigs
D J Scholfield1, S Reiser, M Fields
1USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Carbohydrate Nutrition Laboratory Beltsville, Maryland, USA.
The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
|July 1, 1990
Summary
Low copper diets combined with fructose significantly impact swine cardiovascular health, increasing heart and liver size. This highlights the pig as a model for studying diet-induced heart issues.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Biochemistry
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Animal Models
Background:
- Inadequate dietary copper causes metabolic disturbances and cardiac dysfunction in rats and humans.
- Copper-deficient rats fed high fructose diets exhibit abnormal cardiac function and sudden death.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between dietary copper, carbohydrate source (fructose vs. glucose), and cardiac physiology in pigs.
- To assess the pig as a model for studying fructose-induced cardiovascular abnormalities.
Main Methods:
- Four groups of swine (n=6 per group) were fed diets with varying copper levels (low or supplemented) and carbohydrate sources (fructose or glucose) for 10 weeks.
- Measurements included plasma ceruloplasmin, erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, serum copper, lysyl oxidase activity, hematocrit, organ weights, and liver enzymes.
Main Results:
- Copper-deficient swine showed decreased copper status markers and enzyme activities.
- The copper-deficient fructose group exhibited the lowest aortic lysyl oxidase and hematocrit.
- Copper deficiency with fructose significantly increased relative heart and liver weights.
Conclusions:
- Pigs are sensitive to copper deficiency, particularly when consuming fructose.
- Dietary copper and fructose interact to negatively affect cardiovascular and hepatic health.
- The pig model is suitable for studying fructose-related cardiovascular issues linked to copper deficiency.