EARLY MORTALITY EFFECT OF PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE-OILS IN STROKE-PRONE SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS (SHRSP)

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils have been suspected to have pote ntial adverse health effects but no definitive conclusions about their safety have been reached. Instead, beneficial effects have been repor ted in animal experiments (e.g., hypotensive, anti-atherogenic and ant i-thrombotic activities of hydrogenated corn oil as compared with oliv e oil in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP)). Howeve r, we have found that both partially hydrogenated rapeseed and soybean oils (10% w/w of diet) as well as rapeseed oil have shortened the sur vival time of SHRSP rats by 40% as compared with soybean oil. Soybean oil and partially hydrogenated soybean oil affected the fatty acid pro files of plasma and aortic lipids but no significant differences were observed in the contents of total cholesterol or phospholipids of thes e tissues nor were there any differences in blood pressures. Tissue li pids contained comparable amounts of linoleic and arachidonic acids an d no symptoms of essential fatty acid-deficiency were apparent in SHRS P rats fed the hydrogenated oils. It is suggested that the survival ti me-shortening activity of partially hydrogenated soybean oil was exert ed by the cis and trims isomers of octadecenoate and/or by an unidenti fied factor(s) generated during partial hydrogenation. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science Inc.