Relationship between erucic acid and myocardial changes in male rats

Abstract

The back and belly fat of pigs fed a diet containing 20% by wt rapeseed oil (22% erucic acid) for 16 weeks was rendered into oil. This rendered pig fat, which contained 5.6% erucic acid, was fed to male rats in three separate experiments at 20% by wt of the diet for 16 weeks. In experiment I rendered pig fat was compared only to Brassica campestris var. Span rapeseed oil containing 4.8% erucic acid. In experiments II and III, rendered pig fat was compared to commercial lard containing 0.2% docosenoic acid, commercial lard to which 5.4% free erucic acid was added, and Span rapeseed oil. There was no significant (P less than 0.01) differences observed in the level of erucic acid in the hearts of rats fed diets of rendered pig fat, Span rapeseed oil, or commercial lard plus erucic acid. However, the incidence (P less than 0.001) and severity (P less than 0.01) of cardiac lesions were significantly higher in Span rapeseed oil fed rats compared to rats fed control diets. The number of rats affected or the severity of lesions in the rendered pig fat fed group was not significantly different from controls. The results of this study indicate that the myocardial lesions associated with feeding 20% rapeseed oil diets are not related to the content of erucic acid per se. The possible reasons why rapeseed oil causes cardiac lesions in rats are discussed. It is suggested that a triglyceride imbalance in the oil might play an important role in causing these lesions in rats.

Growth, Heart Weight, Cardiac Lipid, and Pathology of Chickens Fed Soybean Oil or Oil Extracted from Different Rapeseed Cultivars

“…Interestingly, the Chester Beatty (Hooded) rat, which also absorbs fat via the portal system, does not show evidence of myocardial damage when fed rapeseed oils (Hulan et al, 1977a). These results tend to support our previous hypothesis (Hulan et al, 1976) that erucic acid per se is not the sole causative agent of myocardial damage as postulated by Abdellatif and Vies (1973). The myocardial damage observed in the R-500 fed chickens in the current studies is likely related to the fatty acid imbalance of the oil coupled with its extremely high 22:1 content.…”

“…Interestingly, the level of 22:1 in cardiac lipids in chickens fed control, soybean oil, Tower, or Candle RSO was not significantly different. The significantly lower concentration of 18:1 in the cardiac lipids of chickens fed the diet containing Candle RSO (54.46% 18:1) compared to that of chickens fed the control diet (19.98% 18:1) or Tower RSO (61.98% 18:1) should be noted since tissue lipids usually reflect the fatty acid composition (type and proportion) of the diet fed (Hulan <>£«/., 1976(Hulan <>£«/., , 1977c.…”

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric determination of fatty acids in seed oil of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC).

“…However, when rats were fed on a diet containing 9.2Cal% erucic acid for 2 weeks, only minor fatty infiltration of the heart and skeletal muscles was observed (15). Erucic acid having no significant influence was also reported in myocardial lesions when rats were fed for 16 weeks on commercial lard to which 5.4% erucic acid was added (16). Erucic acid in winged bean seed oil was found only at a level of 0.9%.…”

“…In recent years, researches on fat metabolism have come to suggest some possible adverse effects of erucic acid in the diet (14)(15)(16). However, when rats were fed on a diet containing 9.2Cal% erucic acid for 2 weeks, only minor fatty infiltration of the heart and skeletal muscles was observed (15).…”

Pathological Changes Associated with the Feeding of Soybean Oil or Oil Extracted from Different Rapeseed Cultivars to Single Comb White Leghorn Cockerels

“…1835. et al, 1977aKramer et al, 1979aKramer et al, , 1973, peanut oil (Ackman, 1974, Cluzan et al, 1979Rocquelin and Cluzan, 1968;Vies et al, 1979), soybean oil (Hulan et al, 1977b;Kramer et al, 1979b;McCutcheon et al, 1976;Slinger, 1977), sunflower oil (Vies, 1978;Vies et al, 1976Vies et al, , 1978, safflower oil (Kramer et al, 1975;McCutcheon et al, 1976), lard (Hulan et al, 1976), and lard/corn oil mixtures (Beare-Rogers and Nera, 1977;Beare-Rogers et al, 1979, 1974. These findings indicated that factors other than, or in addition to, erucic acid were responsible for the increased incidence of cardiac lesions.…”