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Updated: Jun 21, 2026
Palatable Western-style Cafeteria Diet as a Reliable Method for Modeling Diet-induced Obesity in Rodents
Published on: November 1, 2019
Effects of cafeteria diet on the jejunum in sedentary and physically trained rats
Célia Regina Scoaris1, Gabriela Vasconcelos Rizo, Luciana Patrícia Roldi
1Department of Morphophysiological Sciences, State University of Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. celiareginabio@hotmail.com
Objective:
The effects of a cafeteria diet on the small intestine were investigated in adult Wistar rats under sedentary conditions and after physical training.
Methods:
Parameters including morphometry, enzyme activities, and total myenteric populations in the jejunum were evaluated.
Results:
The cafeteria diet, characterized as hyperlipidic, produced obese rats, corroborated by increases in the Lee index and the weights of the periepididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissues (P<0.01). Obesity caused increases in the length of the small intestine, villi height, crypt depth, whole-wall thickness (P<0.05), and the enzymatic activities of alkaline phosphatase, lipase, and sucrase (P<0.01), in addition to a reduction in the number of goblet cells (P<0.05). With reference to the jejunal intrinsic innervations, the total number and area of myenteric neurons was unchanged regardless of the group. Physical training promoted 1) a reduction of the weight in the retroperitoneal and periepididymal adipose tissues (P<0.05) and 2) an increase in the thickness of the muscular layer (P<0.05).
Conclusion:
The cafeteria diet promoted obesity in rodents, leading to alterations in morphometry and enzymatic intestinal parameters, which were partily attenuated by physical training.
