Multi-country Study- Effect of Dietary Fats on Fat Deposition
Condition: Healthy
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      There is existing evidence to show that vegetable oils having unsaturated fatty acids in the
      sn-2 position with predominantly palmitic acid (C16:0) or stearic acid (C18:0) in the sn-1
      and sn-3 positions of fat molecules do not raise serum cholesterol levels. These observations
      have come to be known as or explained by the "sn-2 hypothesis". New evidence have also
      emerged to show that saturated fatty acids (C16:0, C18:0) in the sn-1 and -3 positions
      reduces fat deposition in a rat model. Therefore, further studies in humans are warranted to
      confirm these earlier findings.

      Fats and oils are made up of >90% triacylglycerol (TAG)- fat molecules which consist of a
      glycerol backbone to which 3 esterified fatty acids are attached. The positions of fatty acid
      attachment are referred to by stereospecific numbers, sn -1, -2 and -3. Early evidence shown
      that the unique stereospecificity of fatty acid distribution on the palm fat molecule
      conferred health benefits in that it inhibited experimental atherosclerosis in the rabbit
      model.

      In vegetable oils, oleic acid [a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)] is predominantly situated
      at the sn-2 position, while in animals fats it is predominantly palmitic acid or stearic acid
      (C16:0 or C18:0-saturated fat) that is situated there. Even though palm olein and lard have
      similar proportions of saturated fatty acid (SFA), MUFA and polyunsatuared fatty acid (PUFA),
      they differ significantly in their positional distribution on the TAG molecule. Palm olein
      TAG contains only 7-11 % palmitic acid at the sn-2 position while about 87% is unsaturated
      fatty acids (oleic acid and linoleic acid). Lard has the highest amount of palmitic acid in
      the sn-2 position at 70%. On the other hand, in human milk, palmitic acid is predominantly in
      sn-2 (53-57 %) while cow milk fat contains less palmitic acid (38 %) there. It is now
      believed that the distribution of fatty acids in the TAG is more important than the fatty
      acid composition alone in conferring the oils' 'saturated' or 'unsaturated' properties.

      In this proposed study, the effects on the outcome measures investigated of different fatty
      acids (palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid) at the sn-1, sn-2 and sn-3 positions of the
      TAG molecule in three different test fats will be investigated.
    


Intervention name(s): Test Fat Blue; Test Fat Green; Test Fat Red
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Each subject received a palm olein-based run in diet for 2 weeks, followed by random assignment Test Fat Blue which incorporated into daily snacks (~50g of test fats, 2 experimental cupcakes (~15g test fat each) for breakfast and 4 pieces experimental cookies (~5g test fat each) for afternoon tea together with a palm olein-based background diet for 16 weeks.; Each subject received a palm olein-based run in diet for 2 weeks, followed by random assignment Test Fat Green which incorporated into daily snacks (~50g of test fats, 2 experimental cupcakes (~15g test fat each) for breakfast and 4 pieces experimental cookies (~5g test fat each) for afternoon tea together with a palm olein-based background diet for 16 weeks.; Each subject received a palm olein-based run in diet for 2 weeks, followed by random assignment Test Fat Red which incorporated into daily snacks (~50g of test fats, 2 experimental cupcakes (~15g test fat each) for breakfast and 4 pieces experimental cookies (~5g test fat each) for afternoon tea together with a palm olein-based background diet for 16 weeks.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science