Effects of dietary saturated andtrans fatty acids on cholesteryl ester synthesis and hydrolysis in the testes of rats

Studies were made of the enzymic synthesis and hydrolysis of cholesteryl esters in rat testes. Weanling rats were fed for 14 weeks diets containing 5% by wt of hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO), a concentrate of ethyl elaidate and linolelaidate (TRANS), devoid of essential fatty acids (EFA), or safflower oil (SAFF). Cholesterol esterifying activity was localized in the soluble fraction, and cholesteryl ester hydrolase activity was distributed in both particulate and soluble fractions obtained from tissue homogenates. The optimum pH was 6.0 for esterification and 6.9–7.0 for hydrolysis. Neither esterifying nor hydrolytic activity was affected by freezing and thawing, but both reactions were inhibited by heat or sonication. The animals of both the HCO and TRANS groups had developed an EFA deficiency before they were sacrificed. The EFA deficiency produced upon feeding the HCO diet had no apparent effect on the synthesis and hydrolysis of cholesteryl esters in rat testes. The TRANS diet influenced the development of the testes as judged by their size, and cholesterol esterifying and cholesteryl ester hydrolyzing activities were suppressed in the testes of the animals of this group. A major difference in the effects of the HCO and TRANS diets on the lipids of the testes was the relatively minor amount of eicosatrienoic acid (20∶3) and the elevated level of docosapentaenoic acid (22∶5) in the cholesteryl esters of the testicular lipids of the TRANS group.