Gastrointestinal and cardiac response to refeeding after low-calorie semistarvation
1989
Young, E.A. | Cantu, T.L. | Harris, M.M.
A recent development in the treatment of obesity is the widespread use of very-low-calorie diets. This study, assessed the response to refeeding (RF) after semistarvation (SS) in a rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (440 g) were semistarved for 21 d, receiving a nutritionally complete defined formula diet at 23% of calories of control (C) rats fed ad libitum, and subsequently refed over 21 d (SS lead to RF). Organ weight, contents of protein and DNA, and the protein-DNA ratio were determined for the liver, pancreas, small intestine, and heart. Compared with C animals, SS leads to RF animals showed variable repletion of tissue protein but not of tissue DNA. The higher protein-DNA ratio shown in these organ systems suggests a cellular hypertrophic adaptive response to refeeding. A persistent reduced number of cells in ratio to protein concentration is evident despite refeeding over 21 d. Very-low-calorie diets as well as refeeding influence nitrogen economy of selected organ systems.
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