Lipidemic effects of an interesterified mixture of butter, medium-chain triacylglycerol and safflower oils

The objective of this study was to determine if the positional structure of dietary triacylglycerol affected lipidemic responses. Thirty healthy adult s (16 men and 14 postmenopausal women) with low-density lipoprotein cholest erol (LDL-C) concentrations >3.37 mM (130 mg/dL) enrolled in a prospective, single-blind, cross-over outpatient clinical trial that consisted of two 5 -wk dietary phases. After baseline screening, subjects were instructed to f ollow individualized meal plans (weight maintenance diets with 36% of total energy from fat, half of which was from a test oil) and randomized to rece ive either butter (B) or an interesterified mixture (IM) of butter, medium- chain triacylglycerol (MCT), and safflower oils. Blood drawn during weeks 5 and 10 of feeding was analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), high density li poprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-C, and triacylglycerols (TAC). Mean plas ma levels of TC (B, 6.98 +/- 1.06 mM; IM, 7.09 +/- 1.20 mM), HDL-C (B, 1.30 +/- 0.35 mM; IM, 1.29 +/- 0.34 mM), and LDL-C (B, 4.91 +/- 0.95 mM; IM, 4. 92 +/- 1.10 mM) were nor significantly different between the two dietary tr eatments. Mean TAG levels were higher for the interesterified B-MCT mixture (B, 1.75 +/- 0.72 mM; IM, 1.96 +/- 0.86 mM, P < 0.05). We conclude that an IM of B, MCT, and safflower oils as compared to native B has no appreciabl e effect on plasma cholesterol concentrations bur is associated with a mode st rise in plasma TAG.