Short-term effects of feeding rats with glucose syrup fractions and dextrose.

I. Young female Wistar rats were fed for 18 d on diets containing dextrose, 43 dextrose equivalent (DE) glucose syrup, fractions of 43 DE glucose syrup of high and low molecular weight or sucrosc. 2. All rats gained weight and showed no gross external abnormalities or significant dental caries scores. 3. The concentrations of cholesterol, trig1 ycerides, free fatty acids and glucose were determined in samples of liver and serum. Generally, these values tended to increase with increasing molecular weight of dietary carbohydrate in the order dextrose, glucose syrup fraction of low molecular weight, and glucose syrup fraction of high molecular weight. 4. Rats given the high-molecular weight glucose syrup fraction were found to have caecums twice the normal size.