Fructose consumption results in the insulin-independent induction of several important hepatic lipogenic enzymes including pyruvate kinase, NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase, citrate lyase, acetyl CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase, as well as pyruvate dehydrogenase. Although not a consistent finding among metabolic feeding studies, diets high in refined fructose have been shown to lead to hypertriglyceridemia in a wide range of populations including individuals with normal glucose metabolism as well as individuals with impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension. The hypertriglyceridemic effects observed are a hallmark of increased dietary carbohydrate, and fructose appears to be dependent on a number of factors including the amount of dietary fructose consumed and degree of insulin resistance.
‡ = Mean ± SEM activity in nmol/min per mg protein
§ = 12 rats/group
 = Significantly different from control at p < 0.05