Deep-fried oil consumption in rats impairs glycerolipid metabolism, gut histology and microbiota structure.
BACKGROUND
Deep frying in oil is a popular cooking method around the world. However, the safety of deep-fried edible oil, which is ingested with fried food, is a concern, because the oil is exposed continuously to be re-used at a high temperature, leading to a number of well-known chemical reactions. Thus, this study investigates the changes in energy metabolism, colon histology and gut microbiota in rats following deep-fried oil consumption and explores the mechanisms involved in above alterations.


METHODS
Deep-fried oil was prepared following a published method. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 8/group). Group 1: basal diet without extra oil consumption (control group); Group 2: basal diet supplemented with non-heated canola oil (NEO group); Group 3: basal diet supplemented with deep-fried canola oil (DFEO group). One point five milliliters (1.5 mL) of non-heated or heated oil were fed by oral gavage using a feeding needle once daily for 6 consecutive weeks. Effect of DFEO on rats body weight, KEGG pathway regarding lipids metabolism, gut histology and gut microbiota were analyzed using techniques of RNA sequencing, HiSeq Illumina sequencing platform, etc.


RESULTS
Among the three groups, DFEO diet resulted in a lowest rat body weight. Metabolic pathway analysis showed 13 significantly enriched KEGG pathways in Control versus NEO group, and the majority of these were linked to carbohydrate, lipid and amino acid metabolisms. Comparison of NEO group versus DFEO group, highlighted significantly enriched functional pathways were mainly associated with chronic diseases. Among them, only one metabolism pathway (i.e. glycerolipid metabolism pathway) was found to be significantly enriched, indicating that inhibition of this metabolism pathway (glycerolipid metabolism) may be a response to the reduction in energy metabolism in the rats of DFEO group. Related gene analysis indicated that the down-regulation of Lpin1 seems to be highly associated with the inhibition of glycerolipid metabolism pathway. Histological analysis of gastrointestinal tract demonstrated several changes induced by DFEO on intestinal mucosa with associated destruction of endocrine tissue and the evidence of inflammation. Microbiota data showed that rats in DFEO group had the lowest proportion of Prevotella and the highest proportion of Bacteroides among the three groups. In particular, rats in DFEO group were characterized with higher presence of Allobaculum (Firmicutes), but not in control and NEO groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This study investigated the negative effect of DFEO on health, in which DFEO could impair glycerolipid metabolism, destroy gut histological structure and unbalance microbiota profile. More importantly, this is the first attempt to reveal the mechanism involved in these changes, which may provide the guideline for designing health diet.
Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China. zkzhou@tust.edu.cn.|ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Functional Grains, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia. zkzhou@tust.edu.cn.|School of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China. zkzhou@tust.edu.cn.
Zhongkai
Z
Zhou
Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Yuyang
Y
Wang
Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Yumei
Y
Jiang
Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Yongjia
Y
Diao
ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Functional Grains, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Padraig
P
Strappe
ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Functional Grains, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Paul
P
Prenzler
NSW Department of Primary Industries, Agriculture Institute, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Jamie
J
Ayton
ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Functional Grains, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Chris
C
Blanchard
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003106:Colon / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods*; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000737:chemistry; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D010938:Plant Oils; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil
Deep-frying oil; Histology; Kegg pathway; Metabolism; Microbiota