Abstract
Objective: Overfeeding with a high-fat and/or high-carbohydrate (CHO) diet is known to increase plasma concentrations of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) that may lead to metabolic disturbances like insulin resistance. The impact of CHO quality (i.e., the glycemic index [GI]) independent of fat intake on metabolic endotoxemia remains unclear. In the present study, the effects of changes in energy balance and GI on plasma endotoxin were studied.
Methods: Fifteen healthy young men overconsumed diets containing 65% CHO and 20% fat for 1 week (OF; +50% of energy requirement) followed by 3 weeks of caloric restriction (CR; −50% of energy requirement) and were then randomized to 2 weeks hypercaloric refeeding (RF, +50% of energy requirement) with either a low- or high-GI (40 vs 74) diet.
Results: During OF, subjects gained 1.9 ± 0.7 kg body weight (+0.6 ± 0.8% fat mass) followed by a weight loss of 6.1 ± 0.8 kg (−2.0 ± 0.6% fat mass) and weight regain of 4.0 ± 0.6 kg (0.9 ± 0.8% fat mass). Fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance (HOMAIR) increased with OF and RF and decreased with CR, MatsudaISI decreased by 37% after RF (all p < 0.05). Endotoxin significantly increased by 30.8% with OF and by 24.7% with RF (both p < 0.05), whereas CR normalized endotoxin levels. No difference in endotoxin levels was observed between refeeding a hypercaloric high- or low-GI diet. Changes in endotoxin levels with RF were not related to changes in insulin sensitivity.
Conclusion: A hypercaloric diet (OF and RF) increased plasma endotoxin irrespective of GI, whereas a negative energy balance did not reduce endotoxemia. Impaired insulin sensitivity with hypercaloric refeeding on a high-GI diet was not explained by metabolic endotoxemia.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank all of the subjects for their participation in the study. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding
The present study was supported by a grant from the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF 0315681) and the German Research Foundation (DFG Bo 3296/1-1).
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
M.J.M. and A.B.-W. designed the research; M.L. and A.B.-W. conducted the research; N.B., A.B.-W., M.J.M., and I.B. discussed the data; A.J.E. analyzed the data; N.B. and A.B.-W. wrote the article; N.B. and A.B.-W. had primary responsibility for the final content. All authors read and approved the final article.