Abstract
Effects of two enriched oil diets (soybean and olive) on some morphometric and behavioral parameters in early undernourished female rats. The present study evaluates the role of soybean and olive oil in the rehabilitation of female rats undernourished "in uterus" and during lactation. Beginning at 20 days of age, for a period of 70 days, the malnourished animals where fed three different diets: standard diet, standard diet enriched with soybean oil (7%), and standard diet enriched with olive oil (7%). A control group eating standard diet was also studied. At the end of the experimental period the animals were tested on an open-field test. Some morphometric parameters (body weight and length, weight and length of some muscles, weight of differents organs and glands, such as brain, pituitary, adrenals, ovaries and peripherial fat) and biochemicaly parameters (glucose, proteins, triglycerides and total cholesterol) were also measured. Undernutrition produced a decreased body weight and experimental diets were not effective in growth recovery. As compared with the other groups, animals eating oil enriched diets showed a significant increase in the peripheral ovaric fat. All biochemical parameters were recovered in the three experimental groups, while triglycerides were only increased in groups eating oil diets. Undernourished females eating oil-enriched diets displayed a bigger locomotion and a lower freezing than controls and undernourished animals eating the standard diet.
