Female rats are protected against fructoseinduced changes in metabolism and blood pressure. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 283

Neill. Female rats are protected against fructose-induced changes in metabolism and blood pressure. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 283: H2478–H2484, 2002; 10.1152/ajp-heart.00243.2002.—The objective of this study was to deter-mine whether the effects of a fructose diet, which causes hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and hypertension in male rats, are dependent on sex. Blood pressure was mea-sured via the tail-cuff method, and oral glucose tolerance tests were performed to assess insulin sensitivity. Blood pressure in female rats did not differ between fructose-fed and control rats at any time point (126 5 and 125 3 mmHg at week 9 for fructose-fed and control rats, respec-tively) nor was there a difference in any metabolic parameter measured. Furthermore, the vascular insulin resistance that is present in male fructose-fed rats was not observed. Afte