DGENESImpact of a Short-Term High Fat Diet Versus A Short-Term Low Fat Diet on Expression of the Key Intestinal Genes Involved in the Cholesterol and Fatty Acid Metabolism Pathways

Dietary fat has been shown to modulate cholesterol and fatty acids homeostasis and several lines of evidence suggest that this effect is associated with changes in the regulation of different genes at the intestine level involved in the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism pathways. The present study will examine the impact of a short-term high fat diet versus a short-term low fat diet on expression of Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding cassette transporters (ABCG5/8), microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) and fatty acid transport protein-4 (FATP4), which have been shown to play a critical role in intestinal cholesterol absorption, chylomicron synthesis and dietary lipid absorption. Gene expression studies will be performed on duodenal biopsies. The primary hypothesis is that a short-term high fat diet will significantly decrease duodenal messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels of NPC1L1, ABCG5/8, MTP and FATP4 as compared with a short-term low fat diet.