The Effect of Rancid Oils on Lymphoid Tissues

Abstract

Among the oxidation products of edible fats and oils, lipid hydroperoxides and the low-molecular-weight compounds containing short-chain aldehydes such as 4-hydroxynonenal are absorbed from the intestinal wall and carried into the internal organs with oral administration to rodents. Oral intake of lipid hydroperoxides or the low-molecular-weight compounds causes significant cytotoxic damage to the lymphoid tissues. The DNA synthesis of thymocytes is remarkably depressed and lymphocyte necrosis is observed in the thymus and intestinal Peyer's patches. In these cases, the mitogenic response to concanavalin A of splenocytes is increased. With long-term (90 d) feeding of slightly autoxidized soybean oil (peroxide value ; 150 meq/kg) in mice, the same symptoms as those mentioned above are observed. These findings indicate that oral intake of rancid oils give significant effects on immunocompetent cells and causes depression of the DNA synthesis of thymocytes, which would be one of the major cause for impairing immunocompetent systems in animals.