Exposure to Common Food Additive Carrageenan Alone Leads to Fasting Hyperglycemia and in Combination with High Fat Diet Exacerbates Glucose Intolerance and Hyperlipidemia without Effect on Weight

Figure 3

Effects on weight, fasting hyperglycemia, and GTT. (a) Weights were significantly higher in mice on HFD and HFD + carrageenan, compared to control or carrageenan-exposed groups, beginning at 6 weeks and sustained throughout. (b) Fasting blood sugars were significantly higher than control by 6 weeks in HFD + carrageenan, followed by HFD at 11 weeks, and in the carrageenan-exposed group at 23 weeks (). (c) GTT at 48 weeks showed that carrageenan alone produced higher blood glucose levels at 30, 60, and 90 minutes than control. HFD + carrageenan had higher values than control at all time points, whereas HFD value was higher only at baseline (one-way ANOVA with Tukey-Kramer posttest, ). (d) Area under the curve confirms significant differences for carrageenan, HFD, and HFD + carrageenan, compared to control. CGN = carrageenan; HFD = high fat diet; GTT = glucose tolerance test.

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