Effects of Palm Oil on the Serum Lipoprotein Profile of Rabbits Fed with Diets Supplemented with Egg and Crayfish

Abstract

The effect of palm oil on the serum lipoprotein profile of rabbits were investigated using diets supplemented with egg and crayfish. Twenty rabbits were divided into five groups of 4 and fed as follows: Gi (egg with oil), G2 (egg without oil), G3 (crayfish with oil), G4 (crayfish without oil), and G5 (oil without protein). The animals were acclimatized for two weeks on grower's mash, and then fed for four weeks on an experimental diet of corn starch (60 g), dried egg (20 g), crayfish (5 g), vitamin / mineral mix (5 g), saw dust for fibre (5 g) and the test palm oil (10 g). In those groups without oil, its corn starch was increased to 70 g. After the experimental feeding period, the animal were sacrificed, and blood collected and used to assay total cholesterol, triacyl glycerol (TAGS) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (I-IDL-C) concentrations. It was observed that relative to the control group, rabbits fed with G3 (crayfish oil) and G5 (oil- protein) had reduced mean total cholesterol (p < 0.05), TAG (P < 0.05) and HDL-C (P< 0.05) while the non-HDL-C levels were also reduced for all the groups, though the difference was statistically insignificant.