Oestrogen replacement fails to fully revert ovariectomy-induced changes in adipose tissue monoglycerides, diglycerides and cholesteryl esters of rats fed a lard-enriched diet

Menopause may be accompanied by abdominal obesity and inflammation, conditions accentuated by high-fat intake, especially of saturated fat (SFA)-rich diets. We investigated the consequences of high-SFA intake on the fatty acid (FA) profile of monoglycerides, diglycerides and cholesteryl esters from retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (RET) of rats with ovariectomy-induced menopause, and the effect of oestradiol replacement. Wistar rats were either ovariectomized (Ovx) or sham operated (Sham) and fed either standard chow (C) or lard-enriched diet (L) for 12 weeks. Half of the Ovx rats received 17β-oestradiol replacement (Ovx + E2). Body weight and food intake were measured weekly. RET neutral lipids were chromatographically separated and FAs analysed by gas chromatography. Ovariectomy alone increased body weight, feed efficiency, RET mass, leptin and insulin levels, leptin/adiponectin ratio, HOMA-IR and HOMA-β indexes. OvxC + E2 showed attenuation in nearly all blood markers. HOMA-β index was restored in OvxL + E2. OvxC showed significantly disturbed SFA and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) profile in RET cholesteryl esters (CE). OvxC also showed increased monounsaturated FA (MUFA) in the monoglyceride diglyceride (Mono–Di) fraction. Similar changes were not observed in OvxL, although increased SFA and decreased PUFA was observed in Mono–Di. Overall, HRT was only partially able to revert changes induced by ovariectomy. There appears to be increased mobilization of essential FA in Ovx via CE, which is a dynamic lipid species. The same results were not found in Mono–Di, which are more inert. HRT may be helpful to preserve FA profile in visceral fat, but possibly not wholly sufficient in reverting the metabolic effects induced by menopause.