Autism-Like Behaviours and Memory Deficits Result from a Western Diet in Mice

Figure 6

Effects of high-cholesterol diet exposure on glucose tolerance, biochemical blood parameters, and PPARGC1a gene expression. (a) In comparison to that in the control, there was an increase in blood glucose level at 15 and 30 min after glucose load in the glucose tolerance test ( versus that in the control group, 2-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test). (b) There was a significant increase in the area under curve in glucose concentration in dietary-challenged mice in comparison to controls ( versus control group, t-test). (c) There was no significant difference in basal glucose levels between mice housed on the standard and high-cholesterol diets. Mice housed on the high-cholesterol diet, as compared to the control group, showed significantly increased (d) blood leptin levels, (e) blood cholesterol levels ( versus that in the control group, t-test), and (f) unaltered blood level of triglycerides ( versus that in the control group, t-test). (f) In comparison to control mice, animals fed with the cholesterol-enriched diet had significantly decreased PPARGC1a mRNA in all brain areas ( versus that in the control group, 2-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test) but not in the liver ( versus that in the control group, 2-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test). Control—standard diet, WD—high-cholesterol diet. Data are shown as mean ± SEM.