Prolonged changes in hepatic mitochondrial activity and insulin sensitivity by high fructose intake in adolescent rats

Persistence of damage induced by unhealthy diets during youth has been little addressed. Therefore, we investigated the impact of a short‐term fructose‐rich diet on liver metabolic activity in adolescent rats and the putative persistence of alterations after removing fructose from the diet. Adolescent rats were fed a fructose‐rich diet for three weeks and then switched to a control diet for further three weeks. Body composition and energy balance were not affected by fructose‐rich diet, while increased body lipids and lipid gain were found after the rescue period. Switching to a control diet reversed the upregulation of plasma fructose, uric acid, lipocalin, and haptoglobin, while plasma triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase, lipopolysaccharide, and tumor necrosis factor alpha remained higher. Hepatic steatosis and ceramide were increased by fructose‐rich diet, but reversed by returning to a control diet, while altered hepatic response to insulin persisted. Liver fatty acid synthase and stearoyl‐CoA desaturase (SCD) activities were upregulated by fructose‐rich diet, and SCD activity remained higher after returning to the control diet. Fructose‐induced upregulation of complex II‐driven mitochondrial respiration, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐gamma coactivator 1 alpha, and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α also persisted after switching to control diet. In conclusion, our results show prolonged fructose‐induced dysregulation of liver metabolic activity.