D-psicose, an epimer of D-fructose, favorably alters lipid metabolism in Sprague-Dawley rats.

d-Psicose, a C3 epimer of d-fructose, is known to lower body weight and adipose tissue weight and affect lipid metabolism. The precise mechanism remains unknown. It has been reported that d-psicose has a short half-life and is not metabolized in the body. To determine how d-psicose modifies lipid metabolism, rats were fed diets with or without 3% d-psicose for 4 weeks. Rats were decapitated without fasting every 6 h over a period of 24 h. Changes in serum and liver lipid levels, liver enzyme activity, and gene expression were quantified in experiment 1. Rats fed d-psicose had significantly lower serum insulin and leptin levels. Liver enzyme activities involved in lipogenesis were significantly lowered by the d-psicose diet, whereas gene expression of a transcriptional modulator of fatty acid oxidation was enhanced. In experiment 2, feeding the d-psicose diet gave significantly lower body weight (389 ± 3 vs 426 ± 6 g, p < 0.05) and food intake (23.8 ± 0.2 vs 25.7 ± 0.4 g/day, p < 0.05) compared to the cont...