Influence of intermittent fasting and high-fat diet on morphological changes of the digestive system and on changes of lipid metabolism in the laboratory mouse.

The simultaneous effect of intermittent starvation and a high-fat diet were investigated in mice after several weeks of experimental feeding. The animals adapted to intermittent fasting fed a high-fat diet showed a lower degree of hyperphagia than animals adapted to intermittent fasting fed a standard laboratory diet. The weight of both individual portions of the stomach was elevated in adapted animals fed both a standard laboratory diet and the high-fat diet. The weight of the small intestine was increased in adapted animals fed a high-fat diet. The length of the small intestine was not changed after 8 weeks of intermittent starvation in both adapted groups (standard laboratory diet, high-fat diet). A higher amount of body fat was found in both groups of animals adapted to intermittent fasting (standard laboratory diet, high-fat diet) but adapted animals fed a high-fat diet showed less body fat than adapted animals fed a standard laboratory diet. Lower levels of serum lipids were found in adapted animals fed a high-fat diet. These results suggest that both lipogenesis and lipid oxidation are accentuated by intermittent starvation and a high-fat diet act concomitantly.