Effect of Dietary Egg and Carbohydrate on Hexosemonophosphate Shunt Dehydrogenases and Lipids of Liver in Rats1

Abstract

The effects of consuming dried egg and various carbohydrates on 1) the concentration of liver lipids and on 2) the activities of liver dehydrogenases of the hexosemonophosphate (HMP) shunt were investigated. The animals used were male rats of the Wistar strain which had been fasted for 64 hours and were refed one of four diets for 1, 2, or 14 days. The three test diets contained 25% dried whole egg and were identical except for the carbohydrate portion, which was sucrose, cornstarch, or fructose. The reference diet contained similar proportions of fat and protein but no egg. The activities of liver dehydrogenases in the HMP shunt reached the highest level in all diet groups after 2 days of refeeding. High levels of these enzymes were associated with high levels of liver lipid at this time. The inclusion of egg reduced the early rise in liver lipids and in liver dehydrogenase activities. The kind of dietary carbohydrate present in egg-containing diets influenced both liver lipids and dehydrogenase activities. However, animals fed the egg diets for more than 2 days showed a further accumulation of hepatic lipid which was not accompanied by high dehydrogenase activities.