[fgummett]

Fructose-Fed Rhesus Monkeys: A Nonhuman Primate Model of Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes...

ABSTRACT
The incidence of insulin resistance has increased dramatically over the past several years, and we and others have proposed that this increase may at least in part be attributable to increased dietary fructose consumption. However, a major limitation to the study of diet induced insulin resistance is the lack of relevant animal models. Numerous studies, mostly in rodents, have demonstrated that diets high in fructose induce insulin resistance; however, important metabolic differences exist between rodents and primates. Thus, the results of metabolic studies performed in primates are substantively more translatable to human physiology, underscoring the importance of establishing nonhuman primate models of common metabolic conditions. In this report, we demonstrate that a high-fructose diet in rhesus monkeys produces insulin resistance and many features of the metabolic syndrome, including central obesity, dyslipidemia, and inflammation within a short period of time; moreover, a subset of monkeys developed type 2 diabetes. Given the rapidity with which the metabolic changes occur, and the ability to control for many factors that cannot be controlled for in humans, fructose feeding in rhesus monkeys represents a practical and efficient model system in which to investigate the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of diet-induced insulin resistance and its related comorbidities.

I found this to be an interesting read, even though the authors themselves freely admit to the limitations of this study.


Gary Taubes refers to it in his latest blog post: Catching up on lost time – the Ancestral Health Symposium, food reward, palatability, insulin signaling and carbohydrates… Part II(b)

 

[foxl]

Aw the poor @#$!` rhesus monkeys ... wish they would leave them ALONE.

GREAT findings, though, thanks, Frank!

 

[MCS]

Kind of odd, but I would think a Rhesus Monkeys diet would predominantly be fruits and veggies along with some protein from bugs and small vertebrates.

 

[fgummett]

We wouldn't need monkey experiments Linda, if they simply accepted the obvious evidence of the fatally flawed human-dietary experiment all around us, but Oh well...

and interesting that they state "...important metabolic differences exist between rodents and primates."

I agree Marty: the monkey chow is not their natural diet, and one of the limitations of the study (as accepted by the authors) was the lack of a control group. I wonder if other monkeys on the standard chow go on to develop Metabolic Syndrome... perhaps it just takes longer? Part of the study design was to find a reliable way to make monkeys with Metabolic Syndrome.

Diet and energy intake measurements
A commercial monkey chow diet (Lab Diets 5047, Advance Protocol Old World Primate; PMI, St. Louis, MO, USA) was provided ad libitum to all the monkeys. This is a grain-based standard primate diet that provides 30% energy as protein, 11% energy as fat, and 59% energy as carbohydrate. In addition, all monkeys were provided 500 mL/day of a fruit-flavored (Kool-Aid, Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL, USA) 15% fructose-sweetened beverage (75 g of fructose). Beverage intake was recorded daily and food intake was recorded for 1 week at baseline, and then for 1-week periods at 3-month intervals during the 12-month-study period.

A diet rich in fruit contains natural Fructose (and Glucose) but it is buffered with the rest of the fruit -- as Dr Lustig puts it "the poison is packaged with the cure" (IIRC). And how sweet are seasonal fruits in their native habitat anyway?

 

[foxl]

Considering what Purina manufactures, to feed cats and dogs ...