Investigation into the behavioral effect of the diets with different carbohydrate patterns on rats

Low-carbohydrate, high-fat dietary intake is known to cause obesity, as well as emotional disturbances such as anxiety and depression. This study was designed to investiate the impact of diets with different carbohydrate and fat patterns on parameters such as body weight, perirenal fat amount, food consumption, blood ketone level and behavior in rats. In the study, 40 Wistar albino male rats were divided into four groups to be fed with different diets including control (C), moderate carbohydrate MC, moderately low carbohydrate (MLC), and very low carbohydrate (VLC). During the experiment, daily food consumption rates were recorded; weekly weight changes were tracked; behavioral analyses were performed; and blood ketone level was measured every two weeks with blood drawn from tail vein. There was a significant increase in body weight of rats fed with control, moderate carbohydrate, moderately low carbohydrate and very low carbohydrate diets compared to the initial weights (C group p˂0.05, MC p˂0.05, MLC p˂0.05, VLC p˂0.05). The weight of rats fed only with low carbohydrate diets was heavier than control on the 21st and 28th days (p˂0.05, p˂0.05). The β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) level of VLC group was higher on the 14th day and this increase was olso observed on the 28th day. The BHB level of VLC group, on the other hand, got higher on the 28th day. When the increase in BHB levels and the difference in the increase rate between the groups were examined from the beginning to the 28th day of the study, the MLC and the VLC groups were found meaningfully higher in the C and MC groups. There was not any increase in the BHB levels of C and MC groups. While the immobility duration (no movement during sitting or lying down) increased in C (p˂0.05), MC (p˂0.05), and VLC groups on the 28th day compared to the beginning, there was not any significant difference in VLC group (p˃0.05). There was no correlation between ketone level and behavior parametres. As being the first study to examine the relationship between behavior and ketone level, this study demonstrated that BHB and diets with fat:carbohydrate+protein at 1:01 and 0:4 for male rats was significantly higher than the control in male Wistar rats. It is thought that the duration of exposure to elevated blood ketone levels may have different effects on behavior.