Investigation of TNF-? and NF-?B Levels in Masseter Muscle of Rats with High Fructose Corn Syrup-induced Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Objective In recent years, especially due to excessive sugar consumption, metabolic Syndrome (MetS) has become increasingly common in the world and in Turkey. The aim of the study was to investigate the inflammatory effects of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) intake on the masseter muscle of young rats. Materials and methods Sixteen 3-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly split into two groups: control and HFCS. Animals were given HFCS in the form of 20% solutions in drinking water. Animals were sacrificed in the eighth week. Right masseter muscle was isolated for immunohistochemical and histopathological examination, and left masseter muscle was isolated for gene expression analysis. Results Both ELISA and real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) measurements revealed that the HFCS group had significantly higher TNF-a and NF-kB levels than the control group (p