title: Teratogenic actions of thermally-stressed culinary oils in rats.
abstract: Lipid oxidation products (LOPs), generated in culinary oils during episodes of thermal stressing can give rise to cellular damage. The aims of this study were to determine whether orally-administered, LOP-containing thermally-stressed safflower oil exerts teratogenic actions in rats, and whether this effect could be prevented by co-administration of alpha-tocopherol (alpha-TOH). Safflower oil was heated for a period of 20 min according to standard frying practices and stored at -20 degrees C under N2. Four experimental groups of pregnant Wistar rats were employed; two received 0.30 ml of pre-heated oil (HO), one of which was also supplemented with 150 mg of alpha-TOH (HOE), and two served as controls, one treated with the non-heated oil (O) and the other without any treatment (C). The oil was administered daily by gavage from day 1 of pregnancy to day 11.5, when the animals were killed and the embryos examined. LOPs and alpha-TOH were determined both in the heated and non-heated oils. The percentage of embryo malformations and reabsorptions were determined in the above four experimental groups. Heating the oil substantially increased its concentration of LOPs and decreased its alpha-TOH content. The percentage of embryo malformations in the HO group was 21.73%, compared with 5.6 and 7% in the O and C groups, respectively. Supplementation of the pre-heated oil with alpha-TOH was found to decrease the percentage of malformations to 7%. The results obtained from these investigations indicate that LOPs detectable at millimolar levels in the heated cooking oils administered (e.g. saturated and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, and/or their conjugated hydroperoxydiene precursors) exert potent teratogenic actions in experimental animals which are at least partially circumventable by co-administration of the chain-breaking antioxidant alpha-TOH. Plausible mechanisms for these processes and their health relevance to humans regarding diet and methods of frying/cooking are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales y de la Salud, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Indart
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Viana
authors.forename: Martin C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Grootveld
authors.forename: Christopher J L
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Silwood
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Vera
authors.forename: Bartolomé
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bonet
mesh_terms: D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced; D000447:Aldehydes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008054:Lipid Peroxides / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012450:Safflower Oil / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000032:analysis; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D008054:Lipid Peroxides; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D012450:Safflower Oil; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol