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(Journal of Nutrition. 2000;130:116-121.)
© 2000 The American Society for Nutritional Sciences


Article

Plasma Thyroxine and Cholesterol Concentrations of Miniature Pigs Are Influenced by Thermally Oxidized Dietary Lipids1

Klaus Eder*1 and Gabriele I. Stangl**

* Forschungs- und Studienzentrum für Veredelungswirtschaft Weser/Ems, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, D-49377 Vechta, Germany and ** Institut für Ernährungswissenschaften, Technische Universität München-Weihenstephan, D-85350 Freising, Germany

1To whom correspondence should be addressed.


    ABSTRACT
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
To investigate the effect of a dietary oxidized oil on thyroid hormone status and circulating cholesterol, we conducted a study with 16 male miniature pigs fed a nutritionally adequate diet with 15% of either fresh or thermoxidized oil for 35 d (n = 8/group). The thermoxidized oil was prepared by heating sunflower oil at 110°C for 48 h. The fresh oil consisted of a mixture of sunflower oil and lard (94:6, v/v) which had a fatty acid composition similar to the thermoxidized oil. At the end of the study, there were no differences in body weight gains and plasma clinicochemical variables between groups, suggesting that the thermoxidized oil did not induce general toxic symptoms. However, pigs fed the thermoxidized oil had significantly higher plasma concentrations of total and free thyroxine (P < 0.05) and a tendency for a higher plasma concentration of thyroid hormone-stimulating hormone (P < 0.1) than pigs fed the fresh oil. Additionally, pigs fed the thermoxidized oil had lower concentrations of cholesterol in plasma, LDL and HDL (P < 0.05). There were significant negative correlations between the plasma concentrations of total (r = -0.29) and free thyroxine (r = -0.40) and that of cholesterol (P < 0.05), suggesting that there is a causal relationship between the changes in thyroxine concentration and the reduction of plasma cholesterol. Our results indicate that there is a close relationship between alterations of thyroid hormone status and cholesterol metabolism in pigs fed a thermoxidized oil, and dietary oxidized fats should be considered in thyroid hormone disorders.


KEY WORDS: • miniature pigs • oxidized oil • thyroid hormones • cholesterol • lipoproteins


    INTRODUCTION
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
The metabolism of thyroid hormones is influenced by several nutritive factors such as the supply of energy, protein or some essential trace elements. Recent studies have demonstrated that the fatty acid composition of dietary fats also influences the concentrations of circulating plasma thyroid hormones. Fats with high levels of mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acids have been shown in rats (Takeuchi et al. 1995Citation ) and pigs (Eder and Kirchgessner 1997aCitation ) to result in higher concentrations of plasma triiodothyronine (T3)2 than fats with predominantly saturated fatty acids such as lard or beef tallow. In developed countries, fried foods are an important source of fat. Thermally oxidized fat is generally considered to contain potentially toxic lipid peroxidation products and to induce oxidative stress in animals (Kubow 1992Citation ). The literature contains some indication that oxidative stress could influence thyroid hormone metabolism (Gupta et al. 1997Citation ). Although the effects of oxidized fats on animal metabolism have been well characterized, studies about potential effects of oxidized fats on thyroid hormone metabolism in animals are lacking. This study therefore aimed to clarify whether dietary oxidized oils may also affect thyroid hormone metabolism.

Concentrations of plasma thyroid hormones influence the concentration of cholesterol in plasma and lipoprotein fractions (Field et al. 1986Citation , Tanis et al. 1996Citation ). The concentrations of cholesterol in plasma and lipoproteins are of particular physiologic importance because they greatly influence the risk of coronary heart disease in humans. The susceptibility of LDL lipids to peroxidation is another factor which plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. Although it has been demonstrated that oxidized dietary lipids accelerate the development of atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits (Strapans et al. 1996Citation ), there are no definitive data on the effects of dietary oxidized lipids on plasma cholesterol and the susceptibility of lipoproteins to lipid peroxidation. The measurement of cholesterol in plasma and lipoproteins and the susceptibility of plasma lipids to peroxidation were therefore included in this study.

Miniature pigs were used as an animal model because they reflect human physiology, especially lipid metabolism, more closely than most other animal models (Barth et al. 1990Citation ). In studies investigating the effects of dietary lipid peroxidation, special consideration must be given to the treatment of the fat used for oxidation. Autoxidation at low temperatures favors the formation of primary lipid peroxidation products while heating at high temperatures and supplementation of metal catalysts favors the formation of secondary lipid peroxidation products. Because lipid peroxidation products in Western diets derive mainly from heated and fried products rather than from autoxidized oil, we used a thermoxidized oil. Experiments using oxidized fats often have methodological problems. The administration of a diet containing highly oxidized fats reduces food intake, food efficiency and the digestibility of fatty acids (Blanc et al. 1992Citation , Borsting et al. 1994Citation , Corcos Benedetti et al. 1987Citation , Hayam et al. 1993Citation , Hochgraf et al. 1997Citation , Liu and Huang 1996Citation , Yoshida and Kajimoto 1989Citation ). Highly oxidized oils usually contain significantly less polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and tocopherols than the equivalent fresh oils because of loss through oxidation (Blanc et al. 1992Citation , Borsting et al. 1994Citation , Corcos Benedetti et al. 1987Citation , D’Aquino et al. 1985Citation , Hayam et al. 1995Citation , Hochgraf et al. 1997Citation , Liu and Huang 1995Citation ). The effects of dietary lipid peroxidation products on metabolic variables are therefore confounded by a different nutritional status and different growth rates in treatment and control groups as well as a different fatty acid composition of dietary lipids. The nutritional status of animals, in particular the energy intake, has a pronounced effect on the release of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland and the rate of hepatic thyroxine deiodination (Katzeff et al. 1990Citation ). To avoid these confounding effects, we used a controlled feeding system and equalized dietary fats for their fatty acid composition by using mixtures of various fats and tocopherol concentrations of the oils by individual supplementation of both fats with all-rac-{alpha}-tocopherol acetate. This study, unlike most others, therefore shows the effects of an oxidized oil in pigs at identical fatty acid and vitamin E intake compared with control pigs fed diets with fresh oil.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Animals.

Sixteen male Göttingen Miniature pigs, bred in our animal facility from a strain supplied by the Institut für Tierzucht und Haustiergenetik, Universität Göttingen, Germany, were used. They weighed between 19.0 and 22.5 kg. They were individually housed in a room maintained at 23°C and 50 to 60% relative humidity with light from 0600 to 1800 h. The day before the beginning of the experimental feeding period, all pigs were weighed and allocated to two groups with body weights of 21.8 ± 0.3 kg (control group) and 22.0 ± 0.3 kg (treatment group).

All experimental procedures described followed established guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals and were approved by the veterinary office in Vechta, Germany.

Diets.

In the 4 wk before the experiment ("pre-period") all pigs were fed 345–395 g of a nutritionally adequate diet based on conventional feedstuffs, according to the maintenance energy requirement, which is 0.45 MJ metabolizable energy x kg body weight-0.75 (Table 1Citation ). During the experimental phase, all pigs received 325–400 g of a diet supplemented with 15% of either fresh or thermoxidized oil. The amount of food given was individually calculated to provide an energy supply that was 20% in excess of the maintenance requirement. The pigs were fed two equal meals at 0800 and 1600 h and had free access to water throughout the day. The experimental diets were administered for 35 d.


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Table 1. Composition of the diets

 
Preparation of the test oils.

The thermoxidized oil was prepared by the following procedure: 30 kg of sunflower oil was poured into a cast iron wok and heated for 48 h on a hotplate set at a constant temperature of 110°C. Throughout the heating process, air was continuously bubbled through the oil. The extent of peroxidation was determined by assaying the peroxide value (POV; AOAC 1990Citation ) and the concentration of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS; Sidwell et al. 1954Citation ). This treatment caused a loss of PUFA (from 66.8 to 63.8 g per 100 g total fatty acids of the oil), a complete loss of tocopherols and an elevation of the POV and concentration of TBARS (Table 2Citation ). We proposed to equalize the fatty acid composition and the tocopherol concentrations of both fats. The fat mixture of the control diet was therefore composed of sunflower oil and lard in a ratio of 94:6 (wt/wt). This fat mixture had a similar fatty acid composition as the oxidized oil. The heat treatment caused a complete loss of vitamin E. Vitamin E concentrations were adjusted to the same level by supplementing the oxidized oil with all-rac-{alpha}-tocopheryl acetate (considering that the biopotency of all-rac-{alpha}-tocopheryl acetate is 67% of that of {alpha}-tocopherol).


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Table 2. Characteristics of the dietary oils

 
Analytical methods.

At the end of the feeding period, the pigs were food-deprived for 12 h, and blood was taken from the jugular vein following mild anesthesia with intravenous ketamine (40 mg/kg). The blood was collected into heparinized polyethylene tubes. Plasma was prepared by centrifuging the blood (1,100 x g, 10 min). Plasma concentrations of total and free thyroxine (T4) and T3 were measured by radioimmunoassay kits from ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA; Cat-No. 06B-254011, -257214, -254215, -258709). The concentrations of thyroid hormone-stimulating hormone (TSH) were determined by a commercial radioimmunoassay test kit for human TSH (ICN; Cat. No. 06B-264125) because a kit for the measurement of TSH in pigs was not available. The TSH concentrations obtained should be evaluated as relative values because of the lack of a pig TSH standard. The cross-reactivity was not determined.

Plasma lipoprotein fractions were separated by stepwise ultracentrifugation (230,000 x g, 20 h, 8°C). Plasma densities ({delta}) were adjusted by the addition of potassium bromide. The lipoprotein classes (VLDL, {delta} <1.019 kg/L; LDL, 1.019 < {delta} < 1.063 kg/L; HDL, 1.063 < {delta} < 1.21 kg/L) were removed from each tube by suction with a pipette (Tiedink and Katan 1989Citation ). The concentrations of total cholesterol in plasma and lipoprotein fractions were measured enzymatically using an autoanalyzer (model EPOS; Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) and a commercially available kit reagent (ref. 1489232; Boehringer, Mannheim, Germany).

The susceptibility of plasma total lipids to lipid peroxidation was determined according to a modification of the method of Kontush et al. (1997)Citation . Plasma (5 µL) was diluted with 995 µL of a solution containing 50 µmol/L of copper sulfate pentahydrate. The formation of conjugated dienes during incubation was followed by continuously monitoring the increase in absorbance at 234 nm. For the calculation of diene concentrations, an extinction coefficient234 nm of 29,500 L x mol-1 x cm-1 was used.

For the analysis of fatty acids in diet and LDL samples, lipids were extracted with a chloroform/methanol mixture (2:1, v/v) according to Folch et al. (1957)Citation . Fatty acids were converted to methyl esters by transesterification with boron fluoride/methanol reagent (Morrison and Smith 1964Citation ). Fatty acid methyl esters were separated by gas chromatography using a gas chromatographic system (model 3400; Varian; Darmstadt, Germany) fitted with a automatic split injection system, a flame-ionization detector and a CP-Sil 88 capillary column (50 m x 0.25 mm internal diameter, film thickness 0.2 µm; Chrompack, Middleburg, The Netherlands). Fatty acid methyl esters were identified by comparing their retention times with those of individual purified standards and quantified with heptadecanoic acid methyl ester as an internal standard (Eder and Kirchgessner 1996Citation ).

Concentrations of individual tocopherols in plasma, LDL and diets were determined by HPLC (Balz et al. 1993Citation ). Plasma samples (100 µL) were mixed with 1 mL of 1% pyrogallol solution (in ethanol, absolute) and 150 µL of saturated sodium hydroxide solution. This mixture was heated for 30 min at 70°C, and tocopherols were extracted with n-hexane. Individual tocopherols of the extracts were separated isocratically using a mixture of n-hexane and 1,4 dioxane (96:4, v/v) as mobile phase and a LiChrosorb Si 60 column (5 µm particle size, 250 mm length, 4 mm internal diameter; Merck, Darmstadt Germany) and detected by fluorescence (excitation wavelength: 295 nm; emission wavelength: 320 nm).

Total protein, albumin, creatinine, urea, glucose, triglycerides, phospholipids, aspartate amino transferase (ASAT, EC 2.6.1.1), alanine amino transferase (ALAT, EC 2.6.1.19), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, EC 1.1.1.28) in plasma were determined by standardized procedures using an autoanalyzer (Hitachi 704; Boehringer) and Boehringer kit reagents.

The osmotic fragility of erythrocytes was determined according to the method of O’Dell et al. (1987)Citation .

Statistics.

For statistical evaluation, means of the two dietary treatments were compared by Student’s t test. Values in the text are means ± SEM.


    RESULTS
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Physiologic status of the miniature pigs.

Body weights of the pigs fed the control diet and the diet containing the oxidized oil did not differ at the end of the experimental phase (Control: 23.8 ± 0.5 kg, oxidized oil: 24.1 ± 0.5 kg). There were no differences between groups in the activities of marker enzymes of cell damage (overall means ± SEM, n = 16; ASAT; 31.3 ± 3.5 U/L, of both groups; ALAT, 32.3 ± 1.5 U/L; LDH, 728 ± 40 U/L) and the plasma concentrations of total protein (70.5 ± 1.9 g/L), albumin (44.4 ± 0.8 g/L), creatinine (111 ± 8 mol/L), urea (2.18 ± 0.19 mmol/L), glucose (5.41 ± 0.39 mmol/L), triglycerides (0.19 ± 0.03 mmol/L) and phospholipids (1.28 ± 0.10 mmol/L). The osmotic fragility of erythrocytes, which is increased in the presence of oxidative stress, did not differ between the two groups (data not shown).

Plasma thyroid hormone concentrations.

Pigs fed the oxidized oil had greater concentrations of total and free T4 in plasma than pigs fed the fresh oil (Table 3Citation ). The concentrations of T3 did not differ between the two groups. Hence, pigs fed the oxidized oil had a higher ratio of T4 to T3 than pigs fed the fresh oil. The concentration of TSH tended to be higher in pigs fed the oxidized oil than in pigs fed the fresh oil (P < 0.10).


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Table 3. Concentrations of thyroid hormones and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in plasma of miniature pigs fed fresh or oxidized oil1

 
Concentrations of cholesterol in plasma and lipoproteins.

Pigs fed the oxidized oil had lower concentrations of cholesterol in plasma, HDL and LDL than pigs fed the fresh oil (Table 4Citation ). The reduction of cholesterol due to the oxidized oil was similar in HDL and LDL. The relationship between cholesterol in HDL and LDL did therefore not differ between the two groups of pigs (3.07 ± 0.10 vs. 2.91 ± 0.12 in pigs fed oxidized oil and pigs fed fresh oil). There were significant negative correlations between the concentrations of free thyroxine and cholesterol (r = -0.40, P < 0.01, Fig. 1Citation ) and between total thyroxine and cholesterol (r = -0.29, P < 0.05).


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Table 4. Concentrations of cholesterol in plasma and lipoprotein fractions of miniature pigs fed fresh or oxidized oil1

 


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Figure 1. Correlation between the concentration of free thyroxine in plasma and the concentration of cholesterol in plasma of miniature pigs fed diets with fresh (squares) or oxidized (circles) oil (r = -0.40, P < 0.05).

 
Tocopherol status and susceptibility of plasma lipids to lipid peroxidation.

Pigs fed the oxidized oil had lower concentrations of total tocopherols in the plasma and LDL fraction than pigs fed the control diet (Table 5Citation ). In spite of this, the susceptibility of plasma lipids to lipid peroxidation during incubation with copper ions did not differ between the two groups (Fig. 2Citation ). The fatty acid composition of LDL, an important determinant of the susceptibility of LDL lipids to peroxidation, did not differ between the two groups (data not shown).


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Table 5. Concentrations of total tocopherols in the plasma and LDL fraction of miniature pigs fed fresh or oxidized oil1

 


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Figure 2. Rate of formation of conjugated dienes during Cu++ stimulated oxidation of plasma from pigs fed diets with fresh (control) or oxidized oil. Results are means ± SEM, n = 8. There were no significant differences.

 

    DISCUSSION
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether a dietary oxidized oil influences the thyroid hormone status in animals. We used Göttingen miniature pigs which have been reported to be an adequate model for human metabolism (Barth et al. 1990Citation ). When investigating the effects of oxidized fats, special consideration must be given to the treatment of the fat because the formation of primary and secondary peroxidation products depends on the conditions during treatment. Autoxidation of PUFA at low temperatures without catalysts causes mainly primary lipid peroxidation products such as peroxides and hydroperoxides. These products are highly toxic when administered parenterally but less toxic when given orally, probably due to low digestibility (Findlay et al. 1970Citation , Kanazawa et al. 1985Citation ). From a practical point of view, because of the prevalence of heated and fried foods in Western diets, fats that are subjected to high temperatures are more relevant than autoxidized oils. We therefore prepared the dietary oxidized oil by heating sunflower oil at the relatively high temperature of 110°C. This temperature, however, is far below temperatures used to fry foods. At the high temperature used for the preparation of the oxidized oil, the primary lipoxy radical is unstable and large quantities of secondary products such as aldehydes or ketones might have been formed (Chang et al. 1978Citation ). These products are of particular physiologic importance because they are highly digestible (Oarada et al. 1986Citation ). However, a large portion of relatively volatile peroxidation products are stripped from the oil by air at the high temperature, and a virtual steady state is reached between their production and removal from the system. Furthermore, high temperatures may induce extensive polymerization and cyclization of fatty acids in the oil. This might have contributed to the relative absence of adverse effects by the oxidized oil in this study on weight gains, plasma clinicochemical variables or osmotic fragility of erythrocytes. Other studies showed reduced food intakes and body weight gains as well as some toxic symptoms such as increased tissue weights, histopathological lesions or increased rate of hemolysis in animals fed highly autoxidized or thermoxidized oils (Engberg and Borsting 1994Citation , Huang et al. 1988Citation , Yoshida and Kajimoto 1989Citation ). The oil used in this study can be considered moderately oxidized compared with those used in most other studies of oxidized fats. To quantify the degree of lipid peroxidation in the oil, we measured POV and TBARS concentrations. These measurements revealed that the oxidized oil contained 60- to 70-fold higher concentrations of primary and secondary lipid peroxidation products than the fresh oil. However, these data are relatively unspecific for lipid peroxidation products and therefore do not provide specific information about the lipid peroxidation products of the oil.

The supply of antioxidants also needs to be considered when interpreting the results because potential detrimental effects of oxidized dietary lipids are diminished by high vitamin E levels (Yoshida and Kajimoto 1989Citation ). The requirement for vitamin E, the most important dietary antioxidant, depends on the amounts of PUFA in the diet. According to the recommendations of Muggli (1994)Citation , the vitamin E needed in the basal diet was 53 mg {alpha}-tocopherol equivalents per kg. Thus, the vitamin E supply of 87 mg of {alpha}-tocopherol equivalents per kg in this study was sufficient. The vitamin E status as measured by the concentrations of {alpha}-tocopherol in plasma and LDL was reduced by feeding the oxidized oil although control and oxidized oils were equalized for their vitamin E levels. This agrees with results of other studies demonstrating adverse effects of dietary lipid peroxidation products on the vitamin E status of animals. A reduced vitamin E status might be the consequence of an enhanced turnover or catabolism of tocopherols (Corcos Benedetti et al. 1987Citation , D’Aquino et al. 1985Citation , Eder and Kirchgessner 1997bCitation , Liu and Huang 1995Citation , Liu and Huang 1996Citation ). Besides an enhanced decomposition of tocopherols by radical-induced oxidation, a reduced absorption of tocopherols could also contribute to the lower tissue tocopherol concentrations in rats fed the oxidized oils (Liu and Huang 1995Citation ).

This study demonstrates that a dietary oxidized oil increases the concentrations of free and total T4 in the plasma. This effect might be due to an increased release of that hormone from the thyroid gland. The finding that the concentration of TSH was also slightly increased in pigs fed the oxidized oil suggests that lipid peroxidation products do not exert their effect in the thyroid gland tissue but instead affect the thyrotropic axis. If lipid peroxidation products had a direct effect on the thyroid gland, reduced TSH concentrations would be expected as part of a negative feedback response. Interestingly, the hormonal pattern observed in pigs fed the oxidized oil (increased concentrations of total and free T4 and TSH and an increased ratio of T4 to T3) was similar to that observed recently in selenium-deficient rats (Ruz et al. 1999Citation ). Selenium is an integral part of type I, 5 deiodinase (Arthur et al. 1990Citation ), but also of glutathione peroxidase, which is involved in the degradation of hydroperoxides. Some studies have demonstrated that dietary sources of highly unsaturated fatty acids such as fish oil increase the activity of glutathione peroxidase (Bellisola et al. 1992Citation , Olivieri et al. 1988Citation ) and reduce selenium concentrations in plasma and some tissues (Bellisola et al. 1992Citation , Smith and Isopenko 1997Citation ). It is conceivable that dietary oxidized oils, which also promote oxidative stress by reducing the vitamin E status, could affect the selenium status of tissues and thus interfere with the metabolism of thyroid hormones.

T4 plays a role in lipid metabolism. Hypothyroid subjects have increased plasma concentrations of cholesterol, which are reduced by T4 replacement (Field et al. 1986Citation , Tanis et al. 1996Citation ). In this study, there was a significant negative correlation between the plasma concentrations of cholesterol and T4. This suggests that the lowered cholesterol concentrations in pigs fed the oxidized oil might have been caused at least partially by increased plasma concentrations of T4. T4 treatment of euthyroid rats has been reported to increase the biliary cholesterol output (Field et al. 1986Citation ). Rats fed an oxidized linoleic acid preparation also exhibited increased fecal excretion of cholesterol (Hochgraf et al. 1997Citation ). The lowered plasma cholesterol concentration in pigs fed the oxidized oil could therefore be due to an increased excretion of cholesterol mediated by elevated plasma thyroxine levels.

The concentrations of cholesterol in plasma and lipoproteins play an important role in the development of coronary heart disease. LDL have been considered as atherogenic lipoproteins, whereas HDL antagonize the atherogenic potential. Thus, to investigate the effects of dietary treatments on processes related to atherosclerosis, it is essential that plasma lipoproteins resemble those of humans. Because HDL are the predominant lipoprotein fraction in miniature pigs, the results are not entirely transferable to humans. A potential positive effect of reducing LDL cholesterol observed in pigs fed the oxidized oil might be neutralized by a simultaneous decrease of HDL cholesterol.

Oxidized lipoproteins play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, which is why the susceptibility of LDL to peroxidation is receiving increasing attention (Steinberg et al. 1989Citation , Witztum and Steinberg 1991Citation ). We used the whole plasma oxidation assay which is considered to be an adequate measure of lipoprotein oxidizability under the protecting influence of water-soluble antioxidants (Kontush et al. 1997Citation ). The dietary oxidized oil used in this study did not increase the susceptibility of plasma total lipids to lipid peroxidation although tocopherol concentrations in plasma were considerably reduced by feeding the oxidized oil. This suggests that the status of water-soluble antioxidants was sufficiently high to protect plasma lipids against oxidation. In terms of cholesterol concentrations and the susceptibility of plasma lipids to peroxidation, this study therefore provides no indication that the moderately oxidized oil exerted proatherogenic effects. However, the development of atherosclerosis is a complex multifactorial phenomenon which cannot be adequately described on the basis of plasma cholesterol concentrations and lipoprotein oxidation processes alone. There is some evidence that highly oxidized oils accelerate the development of atherosclerosis (Strapans et al. 1996Citation ), and some studies report increased concentrations of lipid peroxidation products in HDL, VLDL, ß-VLDL and chylomicrons of rats, rabbits and humans following ingestion of oxidized oils (Hayam et al. 1995Citation , Strapans et al. 1994Citation , Strapans et al. 1996Citation ). Some authors (Hochgraf et al. 1997Citation , Liu and Lee 1998Citation ) have reported that plasma cholesterol is increased by oxidized oils, which is at variance with the results of our study. It seems plausible that the effects of oxidized oils depend on several experimental factors such as the amount of oil administered, the concentrations of primary and secondary lipid peroxidation products in the oil, the antioxidative status of the animals, the experimental period, and others.

In conclusion, our study shows that feeding a moderately oxidized oil which does not produce general toxic effects influences the metabolism of thyroid hormones in pigs. A potential role of oxidized fats in thyroid hormone disorders should therefore be considered. Increased T4 concentrations in pigs fed the oxidized oil were associated with reduced plasma cholesterol concentrations. This study therefore indicates a close relationship between alterations of the thyroid hormone and cholesterol metabolism in pigs fed an oxidized oil. Further studies are required to understand the underlying mechanisms governing these alterations.


    FOOTNOTES
 
2 Abbreviations used: ALAT, alanine amino transferase; ASAT, aspartate amino transferase; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; POV, peroxide value; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids; T3, triiodothyronine; T4, thyroxine; TBARS, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances; TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone. Back

Manuscript received June 18, 1999. Initial review completed August 3, 1999. Revision accepted October 8, 1999.


    REFERENCES
 TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 

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