Essential fatty acid-deficient rats: I. Growth and testes development

Partially hydrogenated oils as the sole dietary fat enhances the development of essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency in young rats. Partially hydrogenated herring oil (HHO) caused total impairment of the spermatogenic tissue after five weeks of experiment, while partially hydrogenated arachis oil (HAO) caused severe degeneration of this tissue in 15 weeks. A fat-free diet caused degeneration in 26 weeks. In the dietary fats, the total content oftrans acids, calculated as elaidic acid, was 47% and 23% in HAO and HHO, respectively. Further, varying amounts of different positional isomeric fatty acids were also present in the partially hydrogenated oils. Besides the specific tissue changes, poor growth, poor feed efficiency and skin signs characteristic of EFA deficiency were noticed. On the other hand, partially hydrogenated soybean oil (HSO) as the sole dietary fat kept the animals normal in all respects. this oil still contained 32% linoleic acid; the total content oftrans acids amounted to 11%, calculated as elaidic acid.