Effect of vegetable oils on the experimental infection of mice with Trypanosoma congolense.

Abstract

Vegetable oils are frequently used as solvents for lipophilic materials; accordingly, the effects of their components should be considered in animal experiments. In this study, the effects of various vegetable oils on the course of Trypanosoma congolense infection were examined in mice. C57BL/6J mice were orally administered four kinds of oils (i.e., coconut oil, olive oil, high oleic safflower oil, and high linoleic safflower oil) with different fatty acid compositions and infected with T. congolense IL-3000. Oil-treated mice infected with T. congolense showed significantly higher survival rates and lower parasitemia than those of control mice. Notably, coconut oil, which mainly consists of saturated fatty acids, delayed the development of parasitemia at the early stage of infection. These results indicated that vegetable oil intake could affect T. congolense infection in mice. These findings have important practical implications; for example, they suggest the potential effectiveness of vegetable oils as a part of the regular animal diet for controlling tropical diseases and indicate that vegetable oils are not suitable solvents for studies of the efficacy of lipophilic agents against T. congolense.

• Authors: Aiko Kume, Keisuke Suganuma, Rika Umemiya-Shirafuji, Hiroshi Suzuki
• Journal: Experimental parasitology (Exp Parasitol) Vol. 210 Pg. 107845 (Mar 2020) ISSN: 1090-2449 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32004533 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Olive Oil
• Plant Oils
• Oleic Acid
• Safflower Oil
• Linoleic Acid
• Coconut Oil

Topics

• Animals
• Body Weight (drug effects)
• Coconut Oil (administration & dosage, chemistry, pharmacology)
• Energy Intake (drug effects)
• Linoleic Acid (analysis)
• Male
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Oleic Acid (analysis)
• Olive Oil (administration & dosage, chemistry, pharmacology)
• Parasitemia (prevention & control)
• Plant Oils (administration & dosage, classification, pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Safflower Oil (administration & dosage, chemistry, pharmacology)
• Trypanosoma congolense (drug effects)
• Trypanosomiasis, African (diet therapy, prevention & control)