[Effects of medium-chain fatty acid on weight gain and lipids metabolism in obese rats]

Some researchers considered medium chain fatty acids a group of potential agents in the prevention of obesity for their particular metabolism characters.

In this study, the authors investigated the effects of medium chain fatty acids on body weight gains, food intake, adipose depots and serum lipid profiles. Healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed for 38 days with over-fat diets and oils containing MCFA at different level.

Significant decreases of body weight [( 295.2 +/- 29.7) g vs. (324.6 +/- 9.1) g] (P < 0.05), the weight of adipose pads [(5.30 +/- 1.57) g vs. (7.20 +/- 1.74) g](P < 0.05), the level of leptin in serum[(1.61 +/- 0.39) ng/ml vs. (2.04 +/- 0.46) ng/ml] (P < 0.05), the sizes of fat cells but increase of HDL-C [(0.73 +/- 0.12) mmol/L vs. (0.60 +/- 0.06)mmol/L] (P < 0.05) were noted in the group fed MCFA at 0.975 g/kg bw per day as compared with those of the group fed soybean oil.

The results suggested the role of MCFA in prevention of obesity and there is no adverse effect on lipid metabolism if the proportion of MCFA to total fat scouce is mild.