Effect Of Erucic Acid On Fatty Acid Metabolism In Rat Liver And Mechanism Study

In recent years,occurrence of diseases related to fatty acid metabolism disorders such as cardiovascular diseases gradually increased due to the development of economics and changes in lifestyle.Rapeseed oil is one of the most widely used edible oils in China and traditional rapeseed oil contains high concentration of erucic acid which might have complex effects on fatty acid metabolism in animals and human.The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and possible mechanisms of erucic acid on fatty acid metabolism in rat liver.Male SD rats were fed with diet containing olive oil and high erucic acid rapeseed oil for four weeks,then blood was collected and livers were taken out from the rats,and the related physiological and biochemical parameters were measured to investigate the effect and potential mechanism of erucic acid on liver fatty acid oxidation.The results and conclusions are as follows:1.The liver index and body weight changes in the erucic acid fed group were significantly higher than those in olive oil group.Liver pathological sections showed that there were many large lipid droplets and liver triglyceride content increased significantly in the rats fed high erucic acid diet.Compared with the control group,serum lipids（triglycerides,total cholesterol）,glucose,free fatty acid levels and 3-hydroxybutyric acid/acetoacetic acid ratio were significantly higher in the high erucic acid fed group.2.After taking erucic acid,the contents of H₂O₂,MDA and the oxidative activity of peroxisome fatty acids in rat liver increased significantly.Excessive intake of erucic acid in diet can induce oxidative enhancement of fatty acids in the liver,leading to the accumulation of H₂O₂,MDA,and so on,indicators of oxidative stress.The ratio of NADH/NAD⁺and the content of acetic acid and malonyl-CoA in the live are increased in the rats fed high erucic acid diet,the enzyme activities related to acetic acid metabolism（acetyl-CoA hydrolase,acetyl-CoA synthetase,and acetyl-CoA carboxylase）were also significantly increased in the high erucic acid fed group.Metabolism of erucic acid also negatively regulated mitochondrial fatty acidβ-oxidation and induced lipid accumulation in rat liver,which might play a role in the onset of metabolic diseases.