[Effects of stereochemically different fatty acids on blood cholesterol in rats]

In the present study some observations about the effects of stereochemically different fatty acids on cholesterolaemia are reported. It is well known that high in EFA diets are useful for cholesterol metabolism: in fact cholesterol is preferably esterificated by EFA. Because of the increasing intake of fats, as high in hydrogenated EFA margarines, it has been verified whether such a technological process, inducing structural modifications, affects or not the ipocholesterolemic effect of EFA, particularly linoleic acid. Actually this research has shown such an effect to fail in presence of trans fatty acids and has pointed out some implications of lipid metabolism which are related to the different stereochemical configurations.