IMPACTS OF HIGH DIETARY FAT ON SERUM CHOLESTEROL AND DEVELOPMENT OF FATTY LIVER IN RATS

The present study was designed to evaluate the impacts of high dietary fat on serum Total cholesterol and fatty liver syndrome in rats.  Rats are fed on diets containing cholesterol; they develop fatty livers which are characterized by the presence in the liver of excessive amounts of cholesteryl esters, and glyceride. Increasement of glyceride content depend on a number of factors, such as the dietary contents of choline, While the nature of the “cholesterol” fatty liver and the effects on its composition of a number of dietary and other factors.  In the present paper, we investigated the quantitative changes which occur in the “cholesterol” fatty liver, as a result of variations in the fat content of the diet, with particular reference to the deposition of cholesterol and of glyceride on diets of constant cholesterol content.  Investigation was conducted on 90 day old Wister rats.  It was observed that the serum TC values in rats of groups B and C were higher than control group. Furthermore, the serum TC and TG value was higher in rats of group C than group B. Grossly, the livers of rats of groups B and C were enlarged, pale in colour, soft in consistency and were having petechial haemorrhages with fat and fibrin deposits. Histopathologically, livers of groups B and C showed fatty infiltration, haemorrhages and mass of eosinophilic materials. The vacuoles coalesced to create clear space that displaced the nucleus to the periphery of the cell. The results suggested that addition of dietary fat from animal and vegetable sources in the diet of rats not only resulted in increase in serum TC and TG  but also in marked macroscopic and  microscopic changes in vital organ liver.