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The use of high-fructose (Fr) corn sweeteners and sucrose in manufactured food has markedly increased recently. This excessive Fr intake has been proposed in the etiology of the metabolic syndrome, which shows an increasing prevalence throughout the world. In this study, we questioned whether fenofibrate (FF), a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α agonist, and pioglitazone (PG), a PPAR-γ agonist, might be effective in ameliorating the metabolic syndrome in a rat model. The metabolic syndrome was induced by feeding rats a high-Fr (60%) diet for 10 weeks. The rats were divided into 5 groups: control group, fed a normal rat chow; Fr+ vehicle group; Fr+ FF group; Fr+ PG group; and Fr+(FF+ PG) group (treated with both drugs). Drug or vehicle treatment was given daily for 6 weeks (from weeks 5 to 10). Thereafter, blood and liver samples were …