Fatty acid composition of serum, adipose tissue, and liver in rats fed diets containing corn oil or cottonseed oil

There have been few studies on the effect of cottonseed oil (CSO), one of the most commonly used vegetable oils in the United States, on indices of lipid status either in the rat or in any other species. Previous studies with rats have focused on the effect of CSO, versus that of other vegetable oils, on the concentration of cholesterol in serum and liver or on a limited number of fatty acids in serum, adipose tissue, or liver. The present study was designed to compare more fully than in previous studies the effect of CSO to that of corn oil (CO) on the fatty acid composition of serum, adipose tissue, and liver. Two group of male rats (n = 10 each) were used, each fed one of two purified diets containing 100 g/kg of either CO or CSO. Between-group differences included higher values (mol% total fatty acids) in adipose tissue, and liver for cis-vaccenic acid and oleic acid (C18:1n-9) for the CSO group than the CO. In addition, values in serum, adipose tissue, and liver for alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3) and its metabolite, docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3), were lower for the CSO group than the CO. There was no effect of diet on serum or tissue levels of n-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid, dihomo-gamma- linolenic acid, and arachidonic acid). Differences in fatty acid compositions noted, e.g., those for C18:1n-9 and C22:6n-3, mainly reflected compositional differences between the two oils. Thus, use of CSO rather than CO affected serum and tissue concentrations of saturated, monounsaturated, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) but had no effect on n-6 PUFA status.