A comparative study of metabolic parameters in diet-induced obesity model of rats

Background: The occurrence of overweight and obesity coupled with many non-communicable diseases is a major preventable cause of premature morbidity and death. Sexual dimorphism exists in neural regulation of food intake. In spite of less consumption, females are prone to deposit greater amount of fat. Aim and Objective: This study aims to compare the effect of two different diets, high-fat diet (HFD) and sucrose diet with the normal chow eating rats correlating with various biochemical parameters. Materials and Methods: A total of 36 adult rats of both genders were selected. They were divided into three groups and each group was given fat diet, sucrose diet, and normal chow diet for 10 weeks. Biochemical analysis was done at the end of 10 weeks. Results: Food intake, body weight, glucose, insulin, and total cholesterol (TC) are significantly greater in males in comparison to females. Triglycerides and G/I ratio are found to be significantly greater in females. Insulin resistance was observed in both sucrose and HFD group but TC was higher in HFD group. Conclusion: Sucrose diet and HFD produce insulin resistance and dyslipidemia and it seems to be more pronounced in males compared to females. Sucrose diet has little effect on lipid parameters.