Comparison of the effects of clarified yogurt butter and commercial dietary oils on serum fatty acid composition in rat

Objectives: the link between dietary fat and heart disease has been established for decades. although, the atherogenic effect of saturated fatty acids is somehow con-troversial, the cardioprotective effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (pufa) are clearly documented. this study investigated the effects of different dietary oils on serum fatty acid composition in rat. methods: six-week male wistar rats (n=40) were randomly assigned into 5 groups and received chow diet for 3 weeks, before blood sample collection from 4 rats of each group. remaining rats were then received chow diet or chow diet supplement-ed with yogurt butter, olive oil, soybean oil, or flaxseed oil providing 53% of energy from fat for another 4 weeks. blood samples were then collected and serum fatty acid composition analysed by gas chromatography. results: total saturated, monounsaturated, and n-6 and n-3 pufa were significantly higher in rats received yogurt butter, olive oil, soybean oil, and flaxseed oil supple-mented diets, respectively, compare to the controls (p<0.05). in addition, the ratio of n-6:n-3 pufa markedly decreased by consumption of flaxseed oil compare to other diets (p<0.05). rats received olive, soybean, and flaxseed oils showed significantly lower serum triacylglycerol compare to the control (p<0.05). moreover, no significant effect observed on serum cholesterol in rats consumed yogurt butter. conclusion: we clearly showed that the composition of dietary fat impact on serum fatty acid composition and consumption of yogurt butter had no significant atherogen-ic effects on serum total and ldl cholesterol.