Chronic consumption of trans-fat-rich diet increases hepatic cholesterol levels and impairs muscle insulin sensitivity without leading to hepatic steatosis and hypertriglyceridemia in female Fischer rats.

Background: The impact of industrial trans fatty acids (TFAs) on lipid metabolism and health remains elusive.

Methods: We compared the effect of long-term (52 weeks) ingestion of 10% partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, providing 4.2% of total energy from TFAs, on hepatic lipid metabolism and muscle insulin sensitivity in weanling female Fischer rats with that of palmolein (monounsaturated fatty acid, MUFA), sunflower (n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, PUFA), and a blend of sunflower and fish oil (n-3 PUFA).

Dietary (n-3) long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids prevent sucrose-induced insulin resistance in rats.

This study was designed to determine the effect of substituting (n-3) long-chain PUFAs (LCPUFAs) for linoleic acid and hence decreasing the (n-6):(n-3) fatty acid ratio on sucrose-induced insulin resistance in rats. Weanling male Wistar rats were fed casein-based diets containing 100 g/kg fat for 12 wk. Insulin resistance was induced by replacing starch (ST) with sucrose (SU).