The effects of nutrition-induced abnormal food metabolism in the Southern Plains woodrat (Neotoma micropus): comparisons of variations of the Western diet.

We investigated the effects of several modifications of the Western diet on a medium-sized rodent, Neotoma micropus, that lives in the area of the wildland-urban interface. We conducted a laboratory study of the response of N. micropus to high fat-high fructose (HFHF), high fat-high sucrose (HFHS), high fat-low sugar (HFLSu) and control (low fat-low sugar) diets. We found a significant increase in hepatic lipid deposition and a significant decrease in podocytes in those animals that consumed the HFHF and HFLSu diets compared to those on the HFHS and control diets. We found no significant differences in Bowman's space or hepatic collagen formation. We predict that N. micropus in the wild, with access to anthropogenic resources, will show similar effects as a result of the consumption of anthropogenic resources.