D-Psicose is a rare
sugar present in small quantities in natural products. In a previous study, we showed that
D-psicose suppresses plasma
glucose increases and reduces body fat accumulation in rats. Based on acute toxicity testing in rats,
D-psicose is classified as an ordinary substance (LD(50) = 16 g/kg). Elucidating the effects of long term feeding of
D-psicose in rats will be essential prior to its utilization as a physiologically functional food. In this study, male Wistar rats (3 weeks old) were fed diets containing 3%
D-psicose or
sucrose for 12-18 months. The rats actually ingested 1.28 g/kg
body weight per day
D-psicose or 1.22 g/kg
body weight per day of
sucrose.
Body weight gain and intra-abdominal adipose tissue weight in rats fed the
D-psicose diet for 18 months were significantly lower than those in rats fed the
sucrose diet. Relative weights of liver and kidney were significantly higher in the
D-psicose group than in the
sucrose group. However, no gross pathological findings were evident at dietary doses of 3%
D-psicose or correlated with
hypertrophy of liver and kidney. No clinical chemical test value was suggestive of overt
D-psicose treatment-related toxicity. Therefore, the present study found no adverse effects at 3%
D-psicose in the diet.