Effect of high-fat diet on mice intestinal brush border membrane composition

Effect of feeding high-fat (26% fat) diet to mice for 21 days on intestinal brush border membrane composition was evaluated by comparing with controls fed 10% fat diet. 125I-labelled lectin binding and chemical analysis of fucose, sialic acid, hexoses and hexosamines revealed essentially similar results in control and test groups. Membrane phospholipids, expressed on dry membrane basis, were significantly reduced while total cholesterol was enhanced in experimental group compared to controls. Triglyceride content was not altered under these conditions. [14C]-acetate incorporation studies showed that decrease in phospholipid content was due to reduced synthesis of phospholipid constituents, in particular, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, as a result of feeding high fat diet. The results suggest that high amount of fat in the diet of adult mice does not alter sugar content in brush border membrane but affects membrane lipid composition.