Histopathological changes in rats and pigs fed rapeseed oil

Summary

Rats were fed diets in which rapeseed oil provided 0, 15, 30, 50 or 70 per cent of the calories. The controls were rats whose diet contained 30 or 70 cal. per cent of soybean oil. The diet containing 50 and especially that containing 70 per cent of rapeseed oil clearly retarded the growth of the animals. These groups also showed interstitial inflammatory changes in the myocardium. Similar changes were not found when 30 cal. per cent or less rapeseed oil was given. The histological changes were evidently produced by the rapeseed oil, since soybean oil even at the level of 70 cal. per cent produced no changes.

In the pig experiments no histological difference was seen between the animals given 28 cal. per cent of rapeseed oil and the same amount of soybean oil. However, the pigs appeared to be in general more sensitive than rats to the high fat content of the diet, for all the examined pigs showed histological evidence of thyroid hyperfunction, interstitial myocarditis, and inflammatory reaction in the gastric mucosa.