Evaluation of Effects of High Fat Diets on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Albino Rats

Abstract

The consumption of high fat diet (HFD) is considered a risk factor for development of coronary heart disease (CHD). In our study, 28 albino rats (99-113g and aged 10-12 weeks) were divided into four groups of seven (7) rats each. Groups one and two were male and female rats fed with HFD while group three and four were male and female (control) fed with low fat diet (LFD). LFD food contained 7% fats while HFD food contained 40% fats. The rats were fed for four consecutive weeks. After the feeding, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), atherogenic index (AXI) and blood glucose were estimated using standard methods. There was statistically significant difference in weight gained from first to fourth week in rats fed with HFD compared to control (p<0.05) fed with LFD. However, there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in blood glucose of rats fed with HFD compared to control fed with LFD. The TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C differed significantly (p<0.05) between male and female rats fed with HFD (136.17±14.19 and 137.0±14.13; 183.17±17.71 and 177.33±16.89; 38.33±6.31 and 38.33±6.31; 62.33±11.57 and 70.5±8.55 and 1.68±0.45 and 1.89±0.45 respectively) and ma end female control rats fed with LFD (99.0±10.46 and 104.84±6.99; 134.67±24.15 and 131.5±12.41; 61.67±3.44 and 58.33±6.31; 22.5±4.32 and 21.83±4.36 and 0.36±0.06 and 0.37±0.07 respectively). Our findings suggested that HFD increased circulating lipids, lipoproteins and weight which are all risk factors that predispose individuals to cardiovascular disease (CVD).