Impact of various dietary fatty acids on amelioration of biomarkers linked to metabolic syndrome in both healthy and diabetic Wistar rats

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to investigate the influence of different dietary lipids (sheep’s grease, olive oil, coconut oil, and corn oil) on specific biomarkers associated with metabolic syndrome in both healthy and diabetic rats. The study designed for 45 days, utilized a male diabetic wistar rat (body weight, 180-220 g) model induced by streptozotocin (45 mg/kg bw). The rats were divided into two sections: five non-diabetic and five diabetic groups, each containing six rats. The first group in each section serving as the control, received a standard diet. Both non-diabetic or diabetic groups, were provided with a standard diet enriched with 15% sheep fat, 15% coconut oil, 15% olive oil, and 15% corn oil, respectively for a duration of 45 days. Post-supplementation, it was observed that control rats exhibited a higher food intake compared to rats supplemented with fatty diet. However, rats fed with coconut oil, olive oil and sheep fat showed weight gain at the end of the experiment, in both healthy and diabetic groups. Coconut oil supplementation significantly ( p ≤0.05) increased HDL-C and total cholesterol level in diabetic groups compared to healthy group, it was confirmed by an increased PPAR-α and ABCA-1 protein level. Olive oil significantly decreased triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-C and LDL-C levels in diabetic rats when compared to sheep fat or coconut oil. Corn oil significantly decreased fasting glucose, total cholesterol and LDL-C levels compared to all other dietary fat supplementation. Corn and olive oil supplemented normal groups, found with significant increase in hepatic glucose-lipid oxidative metabolism associated protein, like FGF-21, MSH, ABCA-1, PPAR-γ and decreased lipogenesis proteins like, SREBP and PPAR-α levels. In contrast, sheep grease and coconut oil increased SREBP and PPAR-α expression in normal as well as diabetic groups. Most notably, sheep grease pretreated normal and diabetic groups resulted in increased inflammatory (MCP-1, IL-1β, TLR-4, TNF-α), and oxidative stress markers (LPO, GSH, GPx, SOD and CAT) associated with insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases. In conclusion, the combination of olive oil and corn oil with the daily diet may play a significant role in arresting proinflammatory agents and metabolic complications.