Einfluß der Hydrierung auf Haltbarkeit und ernährungsphysiologische Eigenschaften von Qualitätsrapsölen

Effect of Hydrogenation on Stability and Nutritional Properties of Low-Erucic Rapeseed Oils Low-erucic rapeseed oils, Lesira and Erglu, were converted to more stable edible oils by selective hydrogenation of the linolenic acid moieties while retaining most of the linoleic acid groups. Feeding Lesira oil, hydrogenated Lesira oil, soybean oil and hydrogenated soybean oil to rats did not result in any appreciable differences in growth rates, whereas feeding conventional rapeseed oil caused extensive depression of growth. Among all the groups of animals the group fed conventional rapeseed oil showed the highest weights of heart and liver. The fatty acid patterns of depot and organ lipids did not show any major difference between the groups fed hydrogenated fats and those fed the corresponding unhydrogenated oils. The fatty acid composition of the organ lipids did not reveal deficiency in essential fatty acids. In the groups fed Lesira oil and hydrogenated Lesira oil half of the animals investigated exhibited myocardial lesions of light degree, probably due to the relatively high residual level of long-chain monoenoic fatty acids, whereas in the groups fed soybean oil and hydrogenated soybean oil only one-eighth of the rats examined exhibited such effects. The occurrence and severity of these myocardial lesions are known to be much higher in rats fed conventional rapeseed oils.     

Effect of diet handling on nutritional studies with used frying fats

A four-week experiment to study the significance of careful diet handling was carried out with weanling rats fed purified rations containing 15% of various fats. Fresh soybean oil was the fat in the control diet and the other fats, which had been used to prepare food by a commercial-type deep-frying operation, were soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with iodine value (I.V.) 70, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with I.V. 108, and cotton-seed oil. A purified diet was fed ad libitum. Treatment of the dietary groups in regard to preparation and handling of the rations proved to be highly significant. That is, as opposed to weekly mixing and twice weekly feeding of the diets, daily preparation and feeding along with the use of antioxidants and refrigeration of the ingredients resulted in a much superior growth rate and a higher efficiency of feed conversion. Since this very significant response became apparent in less than four weeks, the importance of careful handling to minimize secondary effects within the diet must be emphasized. The fresh soybean oil control, and all of the used frying fats gave similar results. Presented at the AOCS Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, October 1962.     

Biliary and fecal steroid excretion in rats fed partially hydrogenated soybean oil

Male Wistar rats were fed cholesterol-free or cholesterol-enriched diets containing partially hydrogenated soybean oil with different levels of trans-fatty acids or unhydrogenated soybean oil at the 10% level. The linoleic acid content of hydrogenated fat diets was adjusted to 3.6% of the total energy. Hydrogenated fat diets contained 29% and 41% trans-acids, mainly as t-18:1. Trans-fats exerted no untoward effects on growth parameters, but increased liver weight. Dietary hydrogenated fats influenced neither the concentration nor composition of biliary steroids, irrespective of the presence or absence of cholesterol in the diet. In rats fed a cholesterol-free diet, daily fecal output of neutral and acidic steroids was enhanced by hydrogenated fats and the magnitude of augmentation was proportional to the dietary level of trans-fatty acids. The increased fecal steroid excretion corresponded to an increase in total excreta. Hydrogenated fats also tended to enhance bile acid excretion when feeding a cholesterol-enriched diet. The results suggest that dietary trans-fatty acids, in relation to cis-polyunsaturated fatty acids, provoke demonstrable change in steroid homeodynamics.     

Cardiopathogenicity of rapeseed oils and oil blends differing in erucic,linoleic, and linolenic acid content

Male Wistar rats were fed semipurified diets containing 20% fat for 25 weeks. Ten different oils or oil blends were employed, including rapeseed oils, simulated rapeseed-type oils, and modified rapeseed-type oils. Safflower, soybean, and hydrogenated coconut oils served as control oils. Histopathological examination of the cardiac tissue was conducted at the end of the study and an incidence-severity rating assigned to the lesions induced by each fat. Oils containing high levels of erucic acid (26–30%) induced the most severe cardiac necrosis, irrespective of the source of erucic acid (rapeseed oil or nasturtium oil). Increasing the linoleic: linolenic acid ratio of the high erucic oils to that of soybean oil failed to reduce necrosis, but the absence of linolenic acid from a high erucic acid oil blend resulted in a markedly reduced lesion incidence-severity rating, comparable to those obtained for low erucic acid rapessed oil and soybean oil which were similar. Lowest lesion incidence was obtained with safflower oil and hydrogenated coconut oil. We have postulated that linolenic acid plays a role in the etiology of cardiac necrosis observed when rats are fed diets containing low erucic acid rapeseed oils.     

Influence of partially hydrogenated vegetable and marine oils on lipid metabolism in rat liver and heart

Partially hydrogenated marine oils containing 18∶1-, 20∶1- and 22∶1-isomers and partially hydrogenated peanut oil containing 18∶1-isomers were fed as 24–28 wt % of the diet with or without supplement of linoleic acid. Reference groups were fed peanut, soybean, or rapeseed oils with low or high erucic acid content. Dietary monoene isomers reduced the conversion of linoleic acid into arachidonic acid and the deposition of the latter in liver and heart phosphatidylcholine. This effect was more pronounced for the partially hydrogenated marine oils than for the partially hydrogenated peanut oil. The content oftrans fatty acids in liver phospholipids was similar in groups fed partially hydrogenated fats. The distribution of various phospholipids in heart and liver was unaffected by the dietary fat. The decrease in deposition of arachidonic acid in rats fed partially hydrogenated marine oils was shown in vitro to be a consequence of lower Δ6-desaturase activity rather than an increase in the peroxisomal β-oxidation of arachidonic acid. The lower amounts of arachidonic acid deposited may be a result of competition in the Δ6-desaturation not only from the C22-and C20-monoenoic fatty acids originally present in the partially hydrogenated marine oil, but also from C18- and C16-monoenes produced by peroxisomal β-oxidation of the long-chain fatty acids. Part of this work was presented at the ISF-AOCS Congress, New York City, 1980.     

Effect of marine oil and rapessee oil on composition of fatty acids in lipoprotein triacylglycerols from rat blood plasma and liver perfusate

The fatty acid patterns of triacylglycerols (TG) from very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) in blood plasma and liver-perfusate from rats fed partially hydrogenated marine oil or rapeseed oil were determined. In the plasma from rats fed rapeseed oil for three days and three weeks, there was a small but significant decrease in the percentage of 22∶1 fatty acid from 17.2 to 11.2% with length of feeding. In liver-perfusate, the comparable decrease with dietary rapeseed oil was from 18.5 to 5.2%, and with dietary marine oil from 13.4 to 8.0%. In contrast to the liver-perfusate, the remaining liver had only a very low 22∶1 composition (ca 2%) independent of feeding period or diet. The results indicated that the liver exported the very long chain fatty acids and that an adaptation took place after three days feeding with rapeseed oil or marine oil. This adaptation in the liver could possibly explain why TG accumulation in hearts, which appears after three days' feeding with rapeseed oil or marine oil, disappears after an extended feeding period.     

Metabolism of erucic acid in perfused rat liver: Increased chain shortening after feeding partially hydrogenated marine oil and rapeseed oil

The metabolism of [14-¹⁴C] erucic acid was studied in perfused livers from rats fed on diets containing partially hydrogenated marine oil or rapeseed oil for three days or three weeks. Control rats were given groundnut oil. Chain-shortening of erucic acid, mainly to 18∶1, was found in all dietary groups. In the marine oil and rapeseed oil groups, the percentage of chain-shortened fatty acids in very low density lipoproteins-triacylglycerols (VLDL-TG) exported from the liver increased after prolonged feeding. A similar increase was found in liver TG only with partially hydrogenated marine oil. This oil, rich intrans fatty acids, thus seemed to be more effective in promoting chain-shortening. The fatty acid composition of the secreted and stored TG differed both with respect to total fatty acids and radioactively labeled fatty acids, indicating that at least 2 different pools of TG exist in the liver. The lack of lipidosis in livers from rats fed dietary oils rich in 22∶1 fatty acids is discussed in relation to these findings. In conclusion, a discussion is presented expressing the view that the reversal of the acute lipidosis in the hearts of rats fed rapeseed oil or partially hydrogenated marine oils is, to a large extent, derived from the increased chain-shortening capacity of erucic acid in liver.     

Free fatty acid fractions from some vegetable oils exhibit reduced survival time-shortening activity in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

Previously, we demonstrated that several vegetable oils that included low-erucic rapeseed oil markedly shortened the survival time (by ∼40%) of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive (SHRSP) rats as compared with perilla oil, soybean oil, and fish oil. We considered that a factor other than fatty acids is toxic to SHRSP rats, because the survival time-shortening activity could not be accounted for by the fatty acid compositions of these oils. In fact, a free fatty acid (FFA) fraction derived from lipase-treated rapeseed oil was found to be essentially devoid of such activity. A high-oleate safflower oil/safflower oil/perilla oil mixture exhibited a survival time-shortening activity comparable to that of rapeseed oil, but the activity of this mixed oil was also reduced by lipase treatment. A partially hydrogenated soybean oil shortened the survival time by ∼40%, but a FFA fraction derived from lipase-treated partially hydrogenated soybean oil shortened it by 13% compared with soybean oil. Fatty acid compositions of the rapeseed oil and a FFA fraction derived from lipase-treated rapeseed oil were similar, but those of hepatic phospholipids of rats fed the oil and FFA were slightly but significantly different. These results support the interpretation that the survival time-shortening activity exhibited by some vegetable oils is due to minor components other than fatty acids, and that an active component(s) were produced in or contaminated soybean oil during the partial hydrogenation processes.     

The effect of dietary erucic acid on cardiac triglycerides and free fatty acid levels in rats

Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 3 weeks of age, were fed semisynthetic diets containing test oils at 20% by weight for 3 days, 1 week, and 16 weeks. The test oils contained up to 22.3% erucic acid. Growth retardation was evident in rats fed rapeseed oil high in erucic acid, and soybean oil and Tower rapeseed oil diets containing about 5% erucic acid. Cardiac triglyceride accumulation was found in rats fed diets containing about 5% erucic acid but not in rats fed Tower rapeseed oil which contains 0.2% of this acid. The cardiac free fatty acid levels were low, 50–100 μg/g of wet heart tissue, and were not affected by feeding diets containing about 5% erucic acid. Feeding a diet containing a high erucic acid rapeseed oil did result in higher free fatty acid levels but only at 3 days and 1 week; the level at 16 weeks was similar to the other oils. The fatty acid analysis of cardiac triglycerides and free fatty acids showed high percentages of erucic acid at 3 days and 1 week; at 16 weeks these levels had declined significantly. The results indicate that the accumulated erucic and eicosenoic acids, at 3 days and 1 week, accounted for the increase in cardiac free fatty acids when rats were fed the high erucic acid rapeseed oil. There appears to be no evidence that the early cardiac triglyceride or free fatty acid accumulation is related to the formation of the long term myocardial lesions. Contribution No. 739 Animal Research Institute.     

Effects of fresh and used hydrogenated soybean oil on reproduction and teratology in rats

Groups of 25 pairs of two generations of male and female rats were fed diets containing 15% of either fresh hydrogenated soybean oil (iodine value, 107), a similar fat used 56 hr for deep frying or an unhydrogenated mixture of fats and oils with a fatty acid composition similar to the hydrogenated soybean oil. The first two litters of each generation were permitted to be born naturally. During the third pregnancy of each generation, one-half of the females were sacrificed on day 13 of gestation and inspected for early embryonic death. The remaining females were sacrificed on day 21 of gestation, and the fetuses were examined for either skeletal or softtissue abnormalities. There was no evidence of any deleterious effects on the reproductive parameters nor any teratogenic effects due to either hydrogenated soybean oil, a similar oil used for frying foods for 56 hr or an unhydrogenated mixture of fats and oils.     

Effects of fresh and used hydrogenated soybean oil on reproduction and teratology in rats

Groups of 25 pairs of two generations of male and female rats were fed diets containing 15% of either fresh hydrogenated soybean oil (iodine value, 107), a similar fat used 56 hr for deep frying or an unhydrogenated mixture of fats and oils with a fatty acid composition similar to the hydrogenated soybean oil. The first two litters of each generation were permitted to be born naturally. During the third pregnancy of each generation, one-half of the females were sacrificed on day 13 of gestation and inspected for early embryonic death. The remaining females were sacrificed on day 21 of gestation, and the fetuses were examined for either skeletal or softtissue abnormalities. There was no evidence of any deleterious effects on the reproductive parameters nor any teratogenic effects due to either hydrogenated soybean oil, a similar oil used for frying foods for 56 hr or an unhydrogenated mixture of fats and oils.     

Ernährungsphysiologische Wirkung erucasäurearmer Rapsöle auf Schweine 4. Histometrie von Herzmuskel-Veränderungen

Nutritional Effect of Low-Erucic Rapeseed Oils on Pigs: 4. Histometry of Myocardial Changes The objective of this histopathological study - part of a larger collaborative trial - was to investigate the influence of type, level and erucic acid content of dietary fat on the frequency and severity of myocardial changes in growing pigs. Sixty-eight castrated pigs were allotted to ten dietary treatments comprising a low fat diet and regimens supplemented with soybean oil or with three mixtures of rapeseed oils. The mixtures of rapeseed oils contained 7.5, 15 or 22.5% erucic acid, respectively. A tenth group was fed low-erucic rapeseed oil (Lesira). The experiment lasted 17 weeks. The hearts were sampled systematically yielding 28 samples per heart. All sections were screened and those showing areas of muscle cell necrosis were submitted to a detailed histometric investigation. Pigs fed for 17 weeks rapeseed oil mixtures or low-erucic-acid rapeseed oil did not display more or more severe lesions than animals fed either soybean oil or a low fat diet. Neither the level nor the nature of the fat in the diets influenced the number and the severity of the mild cardiac changes observed in growing pigs.     

Exacerbation of heart and liver lesions in rats by feeding of various mildly oxidized fats

Groups of 40 male Charles River rats were fed diets containing cottonseed oil, olive oil, corn oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, chicken fat, beef fat, butter oil, lard and saturated medium chain triglycerides. The fats were fed fresh and after 40 hr aeration at 60 C, which hardly changed peroxide values. In addition, fresh and aerated soybean oil and lard were fed to W/Fu rats. Body weights and life span were significantly influenced by the kind of fat fed, but not by aeration. Many hearts exhibited unspecific focal myocarditis and focal fibrosis. The latter was graded in a blind test, which revealed highly significant differences in the incidence of severe lesions; those fed corn oil had the most, followed by cottonseed oil, soybean oil, olive oil, beef fat, saturated medium chain triglycerides, butter, chicken fat and lard, in that order. Feeding of aerated fat resulted in an increased incidence with six of the eight fats. The W/Fu rats had lower incidences, but those fed soybean oil had more than those fed lard, and aeration led to a higher incidence. Some heart sections stained with Light Green SF Yellowish revealed areas of muscle fibrils that did not accept the stain, probably as a consequence of cellular damage. Higher incidences of this lesion were associated with the same fats as was severe fibrosis, and feeding of aerated fats led to higher incidences. Many livers revealed marked proliferation of bile ducts. The groups fed cottonseed, soybean, olive and corn oils had higher incidences of severe lesions, and feeding of the oxidized oils led to still higher incidences. None of the results appeared to be associated with the fatty acid composition of the fats, which suggested that these long term effects may have been due to minor constituents in the individual fats. One of seven papers presented in the symposium “Biological Significance of Autoxidized and Polymerized Oils,” JOCS-AOCS Joint Meeting, Los Angeles, April 1972.     

Influence of elaidate and erucate on heart mitochondria

Male, weanling rats were fed, for up to six weeks, corn oil (CO), rapeseed oil (RSO), partially hydrogenated fat (HF), or a mixture of partially hydrogenated fat and corn oil (HF+CO). The respiratory activity of their isolated heart mitochondria, their hormone-sensitive lipase activity, and the fatty acid compositions of the phospholipids of the mitochondria were determined. The results indicated that heart mitochondria isolated from rats which had been fed corn oil (CO) had a higher rate of oxygen uptake, showed higher respiratory control ratios, higher ADP/0 ratios and a higher rate of ATP synthesis than the heart mitochondria isolated from those fed rapeseed oil or hydrogenated fats. The oxygen uptake rates of the rat heart mitochondria isolated from each dietary group of rats was in order: oleyl carnitine ≫ erucyl carnitine > elaidyl carnitine. The decreased capacity to oxidize substrate by heart mitochondria which had been isolated from the hearts of rats fed rapeseed or hydrogenated soybean oil as compared with those fed corn oil as a sole source of dietary fat seemed related to the mitochondria lipid composition. The type of dietary fat fed had a pronounced influence on the mitochondrial fatty acid compositions of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and cardiolipin. The lipase activity of the RSO-fed group did not show any increment with either epinephrine or supplemental ATP treatment. The substrate preference for lipase activity in myocardium was corn oil-triglycerides > trierucin > trielaidin > tripalmitin. However, cardiac lipid accumulation did not seem related to lipase activity in the myocardium. Taken from a thesis submitted by Chi Ming Lee Hsu in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. degree in Food Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.     

The Effects of High Levels of Fats Rich in Erucic Acid (from Rapeseed Oil) or Cetoleic and Cetelaidic Acids (from Partially Hydrogenated Fish Oil) in a Short-Term Study in a Non-Human Primate Species I

Three experimental groups of primates (cynomolgus monkeys Macaca fascicularis) were adapted to high-fat diets and maintained on the diets for four months. One group (control) was fed a diet containing 25% of lard and corn oil in a 3 : 1 mixture and the other groups received either 25% of rapeseed oil or of partially hydrogenated herring oil. Docosenoic acids were approximately 25% of the rapeseed oil (as erucic acid) and of the partially hydrogenated herring oil (as a mixture of cetoleic acid and cetelaidic acid). Monitoring of physiological parameters did not reveal any important differences between groups. Fecal fatty acids and depot fatty acids showed differences in details of composition from the fatty acids in the diets. These are discussed in terms of intestinal microorganism activity, absorption processes, and in vivo alterations in the primates. In the two experimental groups skeletal and cardiac muscle showed lipidosis. This was especially evident in the apexes of the hearts of animals fed the rapeseed oil and partially hydrogenated herring oil. Fatty acid details from depot fat and cardiac apex triglycerides showed differences and further differences were discerned among the isomeric docosenoic and eicosenoic acids of the cardiac triglycerides. The histopathology of the primate hearts showed a few mild foci of inflammation in all groups which could not be associated with diet, whereas the same diets fed to male weanling rats induced the severe necrotic lesions widely associated with such diets. It is concluded that different species of animals show physiologically different responses to fat-based dietary factors and that further experiments with primates and with oils containing docosenoic acids are required to determine what, if any, cardiac problems exist.     

Long-chain acyl-CoA levels in liver from rats fed high-fat diets: Is it of significance for an increased peroxisomal β-oxidation?

The levels of long-chain acyl-CoA in the livers of rats given diets containing various amounts of dietary oils were investigated. Increasing the amount of soybean oil in the diet from 5% to 25% (w/w) led to a 40% increase in long-chain acyl-CoA. With partially hydrogenated marine oil, a sigmoidal doseresponse curve was obtained, giving a 60% increase when 20% or more of this oil was in the diet. All high-fat diets tested resulted in higher levels of long-chain acyl-CoA than the low-fat control containing soybean oil. The increase was most prominent with partially hydrogenated marine and rapeseed oils. With diets containing partially hydrogenated marine oil, the ratio of long-chain acyl-CoA to acid-soluble CoA was increased after 3 days, but decreased after 3 weeks, to a value similar to that observed in animals fed soybean oil because of an extensive increase in acid-soluble CoA. Increased levels of long-chain acyl-CoA were also observed after clofibrate was administered, but the increase was less prominent than observed with high-fat diets. When comparing the levels of long-chain acyl-CoA observed after 3 days on different diets with the peroxisomal β-oxidation activity previously determined after 3 weeks on the corresponding diets, a straight line was obtained. These results are discussed in relation to the possibility that long-chain acyl-CoA induces peroxisomal β-oxidation activity.     

The effect of dietary fatty acid balance on myocardial lesions in male rats

Three hundred (experiment I) and 350 (experiment II) weanling, 3-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 40–50 g were randomly assigned two per cage and 50 per dietary treatment to study the effect of dietary fatty acid balance on myocardial lesions. The following oils were tested: Experiment I.Brassica napus var. Tower rapeseed oil [Tower RSO, 1974 cultivar and 1975 cultivar, each containing 0.3% erucic (22∶1) acid];B. napus var. Zephyr RSO containing 0.9% 22∶1; corn oil; olive oil; and soybean oil. Experiment II.B. napus var. Tower RSO (1974 cultivar), olive oil, soybean oil, and the following oils to which was added the indicated level of free 22∶1; Tower +0.5% 22∶1; Tower +5.6% 22∶1; olive oil +4.4% 22∶1; soybean oil +5.7% 22∶1. In each case the oils were incorporated in a semisynthetic diet at a level of 20% by weight. Heart and heart lipid weights of rats fed the different oils did not differ statistically from each other. Fatty acid analyses of heart lipids revealed that the fatty acid composition of the cardiac lipids reflected that of the diet fed. In experiment I, there was a definite but significantly lower incidence (P<0.01) and severity (P<0.01) of heart lesions in rats fed control oils (corn, olive, soybean) than in rats fed rapeseed oils. Also, in experiment II, a definite but lower incidence and severity of heart lesions occurred in rats fed control oils (soybean, olive) compared to rats fed Tower RSO or this oil with added free 22∶1. Adding 22∶1 to an oil naturally high in 18∶3 (soybean) did not alter the incidence of heart lesions, whereas adding 22∶1 to an oil naturally high in 18∶1 (olive) increased significantly (P<0.01) both the incidence and severity of heart lesions. Thus, it appears that the background incidence of heart lesions that are found in the rat in any case, and which are increased by rapeseed oil feeding, is caused by the imbalanced fatty acid composition of the oil for the growing rat, i.e. high monoenes (18∶1, 20∶1, and 22∶1) and high 18∶3 and is not only due to the presence of excess 18∶3. Contribution No. 706, Animal Research Institute.     

Long-term responses of rats to heat-treated dietary fats: IV. Weight gains,food and energy efficiencies,longevity and histopathology

Representative cottonseed salad oils, corn oils, lards and hydrogenated vegetable shortenings, and portions of the same fats heated at 182 C for 120 hr were fed as 20% of nutritionally adequate diets to weanling albino rats in longevity studies. Differences in the responses of rats fed diets containing the unheated and heated fats were generally small with respect to rates of gain, 12 th week and adult weights, efficiencies of utilization of absorbed energy, incidences of grossly detectable diseases and longevities. There were no indications that the feeding of the heated fats had shortened survival times in comparison with the comparable unheated fat. Animals fed hydrogenated vegetable shortening, heated or unheated, survived the longest. However, gains were slightly slower with the heated cotton-seed oil diets, and food efficiencies were slightly lower with the heated cottonseed oil and heated lard diets because of decreased digestibilities of these fats. The usual disabilities of old age such as nephritis, respiratory disease and periarteritis were present in all groups. The incidence of mammary tumors was high but did not differ significantly with the kind of fat, heaated or unheated. Tumor incidence other than mammary was similar in both sexes and there was no significant difference between fresh and heated fats. Absence of adverse effects attributable to the heated fats during the life span of the rats in further evidence of the safety of these fats of the quality customarily consumed by the human population.     

Essential fatty acid-deficient rats: III. Distribution of lipid classes in rat testes after feeding partially hydrogenated oils

Total and relative amounts of neutral lipids (NL) and phospholipids (PL) as well as the distribution of various lipid classes in these were determined in testes of rats fed different types of partially hydrogenated oils for 5,15 and 26 weeks. The dietary fats were partially hydrogenated arachis oil (HAO), partially hydrogenated soybean oil (HSO), partially hydrogenated herring oil (HHO) and, for comparison, arachis oil (AO). An additional series of animals was reared on a fat-free diet throughout the entire experiment. The total amount of NL is decreased by EFA deficiency parallel with the development of the degenerative changes of the spermatogenic tissue. The relative amounts of NL in the testis are not influenced by EFA deficiency during the first stages of degeneration. However, feeding of HHO for 26 weeks resulted in a marked decrease in NL. The total content of PL is directly related to tissue degeneration. This observation is supported by the data obtained after 5 weeks of feeding HHO and by the correspondence between the results found after 15 and 26 weeks on HAO and the fat-free diets, respectively. The relative amount of PL is less influenced by EFA deficiency, but severe degenerations as found for the group fed HHO are followed by decreases. The neutral lipids had three main fractions: triglycerides (TG), free fatty acids (FFA) and cholesterol (Chol). FFA was found to be the main fraction of NL after 5 weeks, whereas TG was the main component of NL after 15 and 26 weeks, especially in the animals with degenerated testes. The presence of the large quantities of FFA is discussed. Cholesterol was decreased markedly in the EFA deficient rats fed partially hydrogenated oils, but not in the fat-free reared groups. The variations in the PL distribution during the experiment were small with regard to the two main PL classes, the phosphatidylcholines and the phosphatidylethanolamines. The most remarkable change among the PL classes was an increase in the percentage of sphingomyelins when the spermatogenic degenerations developed.     

Effect of dietary palm oil and its fractions on rat plasma and high density lipoprotein lipids

Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed semipurified diets containing 20% fat for 15 weeks. The dietary fats were corn oil, soybean oil, palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin. No differences in the body and organ weights of rats fed the various diets were evident. Plasma cholesterol levels of rats fed soybean oil were significantly lower than those of rats fed corn oil, palm oil, palm olein or palm stearin. Significant differences between the plasma cholesterol content of rats fed corn oil and rats fed the three palm oils were not evident. HDL cholesterol was raised in rats fed the three palm oil diets compared to the rats fed either corn oil or soybean oil. The cholesterol-phospholipid molar ratio of rat platelets was not influenced by the dietary fat type. The formation of 6-keto-PGF_1α was significantly enhanced in palm oil-fed rats compared to all other dietary treatments. Fatty acid compositional changes in the plasma cholesterol esters and plasma triglycerides were diet regulated with significant differences between rats fed the polyunsaturated corn and soybean oil compared to the three palm oils.