Quantity of fat consumed predisposes cardiac tissues to greater metabolic risk than their level of saturation.

Cardiac abnormalities resulting from the consumption of diets rich in fats have been attributed to their saturation level. Despite reductions in saturated fats, cardiac abnormalities still seem to increase. We compared the effects of two dietary fat sources (with animal-fat-fed having higher saturation levels than plant-fat-fed) on the fatty acid and lipid profiles of the cardiac tissues and its possible impact on metabolic phenotype in male Wistar rats after 17weeks of feeding. Serum and cardiac tissue lipid profiles were higher in plant-fat-fed than animal-fat-fed. The Saturated-fatty-acid (Stearic acid) concentration was reduced in plant-fat-fed cardiac tissues compared to animal-fat-fed. Unsaturated-fatty-acid (Palmitoleic acid, Oleic acid and Euricic acid) contents were higher while Linoleic acid, Eicosatrienoic acid and Docasapentanoic acid were lower in plant-fat-fed diet than animal-fat-fed. The plant-fat-fed diet also showed higher total saturated-fatty-acid, saturated-fatty-acid/poly-unsaturated-fatty-acid and omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid content, but lower total poly-unsaturated-fatty-acid and Palmitic acid/Palmitoleic acid in cardiac tissues compared with animal-fat-fed diet. Finally, plant-fat-fed had higher expression levels of FATP4 and CD36 proteins than animal-fat-fed. Although the level of saturation is a factor, the quantity of fat consumed has a higher tendency to predispose cardiac tissues to greater metabolic risk and is an important determinant of fatty acid metabolism in the cardiac tissues.