Abstract
It was found that feeding of 40% fat diets containing corn oil or beef tallow induced equally fatty liver in rats. The ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids was 5.3 in corn oil and 1.0 in beef tallow. Corn oil contained much more unsaturated fatty acids than beef tallow. These results suggest that an increase of liver lipid deposition is not due to the equality of dietary fat (especially content of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids) but to the quantity of dietary fat.
In the course of this experiment, it was found that serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) was significantly elevated in the rats fed corn oil for 12 weeks, suggesting that the liver function was disturbed. On the other hand, serum GPT level was not rised in the rats fed beef tallow or laboratory chow. The level of lipoperoxide was found to be significantly elevated in the livers of rats fed corn oil for 12 weeks. Based on these results, the cause of the functional disorder of the liver in rats fed corn oil for 12 weeks was discussed.
