A thermally processed cafeteria diet reproducibly mimics early metabolic syndrome through obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammatory activation in Wistar rats.

@article{ribeiro2026thermally,
  title = {{A thermally processed cafeteria diet reproducibly mimics early metabolic syndrome through obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammatory activation in Wistar rats.}},
  author = {Susana Barbosa Ribeiro and Rômulo Camilo de Oliveira Melo and Lucas Vinicius Souza de Carvalho and Arnóbio Antônio da Silva Júnior and Raimundo Fernandes de Araújo Júnior and Amanda Silveira da Silva and Gabrielle Marques de Paiva and Vinicus Barreto Garcia and Ana Heloneida de Araújo Morais and Ana Júlia Felipe Camelo Aguiar and Caroline Addison Carvalho Xavier de Medeiros and Maiara de Morais and Bruna Rafaela Martins Dos Santos and Rafael Lino Mokwa and Francisco Caninde de Souza Junior and Maíra Conceição Jerônimo de Souza Lima and Ciro Dantas Soares and Aurigena Antunes de Araújo},
  journal = {Bioscience reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1042/bsr20260388},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42831297},
  note = {CC BY},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - A thermally processed cafeteria diet reproducibly mimics early metabolic syndrome through obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammatory activation in Wistar rats.
AU  - Susana Barbosa Ribeiro
AU  - Rômulo Camilo de Oliveira Melo
AU  - Lucas Vinicius Souza de Carvalho
AU  - Arnóbio Antônio da Silva Júnior
AU  - Raimundo Fernandes de Araújo Júnior
AU  - Amanda Silveira da Silva
AU  - Gabrielle Marques de Paiva
AU  - Vinicus Barreto Garcia
AU  - Ana Heloneida de Araújo Morais
AU  - Ana Júlia Felipe Camelo Aguiar
AU  - Caroline Addison Carvalho Xavier de Medeiros
AU  - Maiara de Morais
AU  - Bruna Rafaela Martins Dos Santos
AU  - Rafael Lino Mokwa
AU  - Francisco Caninde de Souza Junior
AU  - Maíra Conceição Jerônimo de Souza Lima
AU  - Ciro Dantas Soares
AU  - Aurigena Antunes de Araújo
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Bioscience reports
DO  - 10.1042/bsr20260388
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42831297
AB  - The obesogenic nutrient composition and processing characteristics of ultra-processed foods may contribute to metabolic dysfunction. The present study evaluated a standardized cafeteria diet, alone or combined with low-dose streptozotocin (STZ), in male Wistar rats. Animals (n = 32) were allocated to Healthy Control, STZ (35 mg/kg), Cafeteria Diet (CAF), and CAF + STZ groups. The diet contained standard chow, condensed milk, refined sugar, hydrogenated fat, soybean oil, and chocolate-filled biscuits, homogenized and thermally processed at 180°C. After 102 days, anthropometric, metabolic, inflammatory, gene expression, microbiota, and histopathological parameters were assessed. CAF induced a marked obesogenic phenotype, with increased body weight (+172.3%) and abdominal circumference (+38.7%; P < 0.01). CAF showed hyperglycemia (median glucose, 403 mg/dl) and higher HOMA-IR than Healthy Control (P < 0.01); CAF + STZ also showed increased HOMA-IR (P < 0.05). CAF increased IL-1β and IL-6 (P < 0.05), triglycerides, adipocyte hypertrophy (P < 0.01), and adipose leptin expression (P < 0.05), while reducing muscle Slc2a4/GLUT4 expression (P < 0.01). Liver, kidney, and pancreatic histopathological scores did not differ significantly. Gut microbiota showed marked compositional imbalance and low taxonomic evenness, with Firmicutes (99.83%), Ligilactobacillus (99.36%), and Lactobacillaceae (99.52%) predominating, while Enterobacteriaceae represented 0.14%. Despite no reduction in Shannon or Simpson indices, extreme Ligilactobacillus dominance indicated a restricted and uneven community. Overall, the cafeteria diet reproduced obesity-associated metabolic dysfunction, characterized by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, inflammation, adipocyte hypertrophy, altered glucose and leptin expression, and substantial microbiota restructuring.
SN  - 0144-8463
SN  - 1573-4935
ER  -