Effects of plant and animal lipids rich in docosenoic acids on the myocardium of cynomolgus monkeys

Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were fed diets containing 25% rapeseed oil (RSO), partially-hydrogenated herring oil (PHHO) or a 3:1 mixture of lard/corn oil as control (CON) for 4 months. The RSO contained approximately 25% of the fatty acids as erucic acid (cis-docos-13-enoic, 22:1w9) while the PHHO contained a similar concentration of mainly cetoleic acid (cis-docos-11-enoic, 22:1w11). The CON contained no 22:1 acids. The monkeys developed the expected myocardial lipidosis, somewhat more pronounced in the RSO than the PHHO group, but small foci of mononuclear cell infiltration, while infrequent, occurred in all three groups. Significant intergroup differences in biochemical or hematologic measurements of serum constituents were an increase in serum cholesterol concentration in the RSO group and an increase in serum glutamicoxaloacetic transaminase activity in both RSO and PHHO groups at certain intervals. The shorter proportion of M. fascicularis life span represented by this experiment may account for the absence of clear intergroup differences such as are reported in rats used in similar studies.