Adult male and female Wistar rats were fed isoenergetically for a 6 week period with a lipogenic diet containing a 20% fat mixture which caused fat-metabolism disturbance. One group consumed the mixture of sunflower oil and lard in a ratio of 0.91 P/S, the other group the interesterified form of the same mixture. The linoleic acid content of the mixtures was 0.4%. The fat mixture of the third group's diet was adjusted with soya oil to a linoleic-acid content of 0.8%. The results were compared to the control data obtained in rats fed with a normal diet. The changes in various lipid indices of the serum and the liver and the levels of some metals in the liver were analysed. It was found that; in comparison to the control on the effect of the lipogenic diet the total lipid and cholesterol contents of the serum increased significantly in all groups (a significantly higher value being observed for the females than for the males) whereas the HDL-C content decreased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)