Effect of high stearic acid containing fat on markers for in vivo lipid peroxidation.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of high stearic acid (SA) diets versus high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) diets on several measures of lipid peroxidation in vivo. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets that differed only in the fat source (8% by weight) for 19 weeks. High SA fats were beef tallow (BT) and cocoa butter (CB), high PUFA fats were soybean oil (SO) and menhaden oil (MO). Urine was analyzed for lipophilic aldehydes, the secondary products of lipid peroxidation, by HPLC. Decreases (P<0.05) were found for 4 nonpolar lipophilic aldehydes and related carbonyl compounds (NPC) and 4 polar lipophilic aldehydes and related carbonyl compounds (PC) when the BT-fed group was compared to the SO-fed group. Decreases were also found to be significant for total NPC (P<0.01) and total PC (P<0.05) between BT and SO-fed groups. Serum increase in resistance to oxidation (P<0.01) was found in the BT group when compared to the SO group. The differences in urine and serum measurements in the present experiment indicate lower level of lipid peroxidation in vivo due to the consumption of high SA containing BT diet compared to high PUFA containing SO diet without raising serum triglycerides and cholesterol levels significantly for the BT-fed groups.