Obesity reaches an epidemic level worldwide, and this condition is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation and secondary comorbidities, largely driven by global changes in lifestyle and diet. Various dietary approaches are proposed for the obesity treatment and its associated metabolic disorders. Good taste, antioxidant functions, and vitamins have been attributed to virgin coconut oil (VCO). However, VCO contains a large amount of saturated fatty acids, and the consumption of this fat is associated with a number of secondary diseases. We evaluate the effects of VCO supplementation on biochemical, inflammatory, and oxidative stress parameters in rats fed with high-fat diet (HFD). After feeding with HFD for 12 weeks, the animals were supplemented with VCO for 30 days. HFD+VCO group increased in diet intake, weight gain, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. These findings were accompanied by increased in hepatic lipid profile and fat deposition in the liver. Adipocyte hypertrophy was observed in the HFD+VCO group, which was associated with elevated expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in adipose tissue. These results revealed that VCO associated with HFD induced important metabolic alterations, adipose inflammation, and hepatic lipid accumulation in rats.
Keywords: coconut oil; metabolism; saturated fatty acids.