Atherosclerosis (AS) is the most common cardiovascular disease (CVD). Currently, it is widely believed that R-TFA and I-TFA may cause different biological effects. In the present study, we aim to elucidate the effect of mixed R-TFA derived from butter on the development of AS in high-fat diet-fed ApoE–/– mice and find the possible mechanism. It was shown that butter-derived R-TFA promoted dyslipidemia, reduced thoracic and abdominal aorta diameters, and induced aortic lipid deposition and atherosclerotic lesions in high-fat diet-fed ApoE–/– mice. Meanwhile, butter-derived R-TFA affected the serum lipid profile of high-fat diet-fed ApoE–/– mice and the lipid metabolism of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Through lipidomic techniques, we found that butter-derived R-TFA had a significant effect on the glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that butter-derived R-TFA does not alleviate but promotes atherosclerotic lesions in high-fat diet-fed ApoE–/– mice and that the glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway plays a major role in this pro-atherosclerotic effect.

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Summary Rice grains were obtained from two Chinese provinces (Hubei and Guangxi) and then their rice bran was abraded into four equal fractions by weight from outside to inside. The component distributions in these four fractions were then investigated. The contents of total lipid‐soluble antioxidant showed no significant difference between rice bran from the Hubei province and the Guangxi province. But the content of total water‐soluble antioxidant was 1690.20 ± 86.40 mg kg−1 for rice bran from the Hubei province, significantly higher than those from the Guangxi province (1014.67 ± 71.09 mg kg−1). Obvious differences between four rice bran fractions or two provinces were proved by principal component analysis (PCA). Lipase activities decreased significantly from outer fractions to inner fractions, and lipids mainly distributed in three outer fractions. The essential element contents decreased significantly, but a main heavy metal element (Pb) in cereal increased significantly to 0.36 mg kg−1 from outer fractions to inner fractions, which was just slightly below the upper limit of Chinese Standard (0.40 mg kg−1). Although protein contents had no significant difference in four fractions, the amino acid compositions were quite different. In summary, different fractions of rice bran had different compositions, which could provide guidance for the classified processing of rice bran.