Fig. 1

Markers of metabolic syndrome for both male and female animals at the end of the diet intervention protocol for rats in the chow and HFS-fed groups. All indicators of metabolic syndrome in female animals were found to be increased in the HFS group compared to the chow-fed controls. For male animals, all values were elevated except for total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol in the HFS animals compared to the controls. *Indicates statistical significance to the level of p < 0.05 compared to the chow-fed animals. Data are shown in box and whisker plots where the line across the box represents the median, and the whiskers extending from the bottom and top of the box represent the minimum value to the lower quartile and the upper quartile to the maximum value respectively.