Vitamin A status affects weight gain and hepatic glucose metabolism in rats fed a high-fat diet.

Whether vitamin A (VA) has a role in the development of metabolic abnormalities associated with intake of a high-fat diet (HFD) is unclear. Sprague-Dawley rats after weaning were fed an isocaloric VA sufficient HFD (VAS-HFD) or a VA deficient HFD (VAD-HFD) for 8 weeks. Body mass, food intake, liver and adipose tissue mass, and the hepatic expression levels of key proteins for metabolism were determined.

The Impact of Egg Nutrient Composition and Its Consumption on Cholesterol Homeostasis.

Nutrient deficiencies and excess are involved in many aspects of human health. As a source of essential nutrients, eggs have been used worldwide to support the nutritional needs of human societies. On the other hand, eggs also contain a significant amount of cholesterol, a lipid molecule that has been associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases.

Higher protein kinase C ζ in fatty rat liver and its effect on insulin actions in primary hepatocytes.

We previously showed the impairment of insulin-regulated gene expression in the primary hepatocytes from Zucker fatty (ZF) rats, and its association with alterations of hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism. However, the molecular mechanism is unknown. A preliminary experiment shows that the expression level of protein kinase C ζ (PKCζ), a member of atypical PKC family, is higher in the liver and hepatocytes of ZF rats than that of Zucker lean (ZL) rats.