Fructose may cause metabolic syndrome due to its ability to raise uric acid levels.
A causal role for uric acid in fructose-induced metabolic syndrome.
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Key Findings
Abstract
The worldwide epidemic of metabolic syndrome correlates with an elevation in serum uric acid as well as a marked increase in total fructose intake (in the form of table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup). Fructose raises uric acid, and the latter inhibits nitric oxide bioavailability. Because insulin requires nitric oxide to stimulate glucose uptake, we hypothesized that fructose-induced hyperuricemia may have a pathogenic role in metabolic syndrome. Four sets of experiments were performed. First, pair-feeding studies showed that fructose, and not dextrose, induced features (hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperuricemia) of metabolic syndrome. Second, in rats receiving a high-fructose diet, the lowering of uric acid with either allopurinol (a xanthine oxidase inhibitor) or benzbromarone (a uricosuric agent) was able to prevent or reverse features of metabolic syndrome. In particular, the administration of allopurinol prophylactically prevented fructose-induced hyperinsulinemia (272.3 vs.160.8 pmol/l, P
Affiliation
Division of Nephrology, Hypertension, and Transplantation, PO Box 100224, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. [email protected]
External References
- PubMed ID:
- 16234313
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