Fructose, a major component of modern diets, is strongly associated with pediatric obesity and metabolic syndrome, yet its direct effects on the intestinal mucosal barrier and mucin composition remain poorly defined. We investigated whether fructose supplementation alters high-fat diet (HFD)–induced changes in duodenal mucins in an age-dependent manner. Young and adult mice were fed a normal diet (ND), HFD, or HFD plus 30% fructose in drinking water (HFD+Fru) for 16 weeks. Brunner’s glands and villus goblet cells were analyzed by histochemistry and lectin profiling to assess mucin production and O-glycosylation.
Mentino et al. (Wed,) studied this question.