Veterinary Research Forum

Impact of a soybean oil-enriched diet on metabolic parameters in a chick model of childhood obesity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Rooja Seifzade 1
Hossein Jonaidi 1
Shadi Hashemnia 1
Reza Kheirandish 2
Mohamad Zamani-Ahmadmahmudi 3
Manochehr Yousefi 4
Parsa Jonaidi 5
Heshmat Hajhosseini 1
Mahmoud Salehi 3
Khavar Adhami 6
Mehran Pourmashayekhi 1

1 Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

2 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

3 Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

4 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Higher Educational Complex of Saravan, Saravan, Iran

5 Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

6 Quality Control Unit, Golnaz Vegetable Oil Company, Kerman, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30466/vrf.2025.2053508.4665
Abstract
Obese and overeating children are at risk of obesity and its complications in adulthood. Research on childhood obesity encounters numerous challenges in mammals. Broiler chicks are a suitable animal model for studying childhood obesity. Genetically, broiler chicks exhibit high growth rates. They are hyperphagic, hyperglycemic, and capable of accumulating abdominal fat, and their diet can be managed from birth. Soybean oil, which is rich in omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid and low in omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-6 : n-3 ratio = 7.50), is widely utilized in human nutrition. However, conflicting findings have been reported regarding the efficacy of this oil in humans and rodents. Effects of a soybean oil-enriched diet (4.00% total fat as a control vs. 11.00% total fat as a treatment) on metabolic disorders in broiler chicks were evaluated from hatching to 36 days of age. Results showed no changes in food intake, body weight, appetite-regulating neuro-peptide mRNA levels, blood triglycerides, or hematological parameters. In contrast, the relative abdominal fat, blood cholesterol, aortic wall thickness, intima layer, and area of fat cells increased significantly in treatment group compared to control group. Signs of liver fat infiltration (steatosis) and changes in the aortic intima layer, including increased distance between elastin fibers, were observed. In conclusion, in middle-term-fed broiler chicks, a model for childhood obesity using soybean oil high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids leads to early atherosclerosis, fatty liver, adipose dysfunction, and hypercholesterolemia, without impacting body weight or food intake.

Keywords

Atherosclerosis
Broiler chicks
Childhood obesity
Fatty liver
Soybean oil
Subjects
1.     Sacks FM, Lichtenstein AH, Wu JHY, et al. Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: a presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2017; 136(3): e1-e23. doi: 10.1161/CIR.000000000 0000510.
2.     Scientific report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: advisory report to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Washington DC, USA: US Department of Agriculture 2020.
3.     Agricultural Research Service. Food Data Central. US Department of Agriculture. (FDC ID: 748366 NDB Number: 4044). Available at: https://fdc. nal.usda.gov/.  Accessed 03 Feb, 2026.
4.     DiNicolantonio JJ, O’Keefe JH. Omega-6 vegetable oils as a driver of coronary heart disease: the oxidized linoleic acid hypothesis. Open Heart 2018; 5(2): e000898. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2018-000898.
5.     Maki KC, Eren F, Cassens ME, et al. ω-6 poly-unsaturated fatty acids and cardiometabolic health: current evidence, controversies, and research gaps. Adv Nutr 2018; 9(6): 688-700.
6.     Sanders TAB. Omega-6 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. Circulation 2019; 139(21): 2437-2439.
7.     World Health Organization: Obesity and overweight. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight. Accessed 03 Feb, 2026.
8.     Reddon H, Guéant JL, Meyre D. The importance of gene-environment interactions in human obesity. Clin Sci (Lond) 2016; 130(18): 1571-1597.
9.     Vieira Queiroz De Paula M, Grant M, Lanigan J, et al. Does human milk composition predict later risk of obesity? A systematic review. BMC Nutr 2023; 9(1): 89. doi: 10.1186/s40795-023-00742-9.
10. Picard ML, Uzu G, Dunnington EA, et al. Food intake adjustments of chicks: short term reactions to deficiencies in lysine, methionine and tryptophan. Br Poult Sci 1993; 34(4): 737-746.
11. Wang G, Kim WK, Cline MA, et al. Factors affecting adipose tissue development in chickens: a review. Poult Sci 2017; 96(10): 3687-3699.
12. Burt DW, Bruley C, Dunn IC, et al. The dynamics of chromosome evolution in birds and mammals. Nature 1999; 402(6760): 411-413.
13. Braun EJ, Sweazea KL. Glucose regulation in birds. Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 2008; 151(1): 1-9.
14. Chen C, Chen W, Ding H, et al. High-fat diet-induced gut microbiota alteration promotes lipogenesis by butyric acid/miR-204/ACSS2 axis in chickens. Poult Sci 2023; 102(9): 102856. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.102856.
15. Xiao Y, Jia M, Jiang T, et al. Dietary supplementation with perillartine ameliorates lipid metabolism disorder induced by a high-fat diet in broiler chickens. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2022; 625: 66-74.
16. Chen C, Chen YJ, Ding ST, et al. Expression profile of adiponectin and adiponectin receptors in high‐fat diet feeding chickens. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl) 2018; 102(6): 1585-1592.
17. Noy Y, Sklan D. Yolk and exogenous feed utilization in the posthatch chick. Poult Sci 2001; 80(10): 1490-1495.
18. Chowdhury VS, Tomonaga S, Ikegami T, et al. Oxidative damage and brain concentrations of free amino acid in chicks exposed to high ambient temperature. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2014; 169: 70-76.
19. Campbell TW. Hematology of Birds. In: Thrall MA, Weiser G, Allison RW, Campbell TW (Eds). Veterinary hematology, clinical chemistry, and cytology. 3rd ed. New Jersey, USA: Wiley-Blackwell 2022; 254-291.
20. Yousefi M, Jonaidi H, Sadeghi B. Influence of peripheral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on feed intake, body temperature and hypothalamic expression of neuro- peptides involved in appetite regulation in broilers and layer chicks. Br Poult Sci 2021; 62(1): 110-117.
21. Messina M, Shearer G, Petersen K. Soybean oil lowers circulating cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease risk, and has no effect on markers of inflammation and oxidation. Nutrition 2021; 89: 111343. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2021.111343.
22. Lands B. Consequences of essential fatty acids. Nutrients 2012; 4(9): 1338-1357.
23. Innes JK, Calder PC. Omega-6 fatty acids and inflammation. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fat Acids 2018; 132: 41-48.
24. Massiera F, Saint-Marc P, Seydoux J, et al. Arachidonic acid and prostacyclin signaling promote adipose tissue development: a human health concern? J Lipid Res 2003; 44(2): 271-279.
25. Galatou E, Mourelatou E, Hatziantoniou S, et al. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and atherosclerosis: explaining their pathophysiology, association and the role of incretin-based drugs. Antioxidants (Basel) 2022; 11(6): 1060. doi: 10.3390/antiox11061060.
26. Leamy AK, Egnatchik RA, Young JD. Molecular mechanisms and the role of saturated fatty acids in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Prog Lipid Res 2013; 52(1): 165-174.
27. Sanders FW, Griffin JL. De novo lipogenesis in the liver in health and disease: more than just a shunting yard for glucose. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 91(2): 452-468.
28. Bessone F, Razori MV, Roma MG. Molecular pathways of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease development and progression. Cell Mol Life Sci 2019; 76(1): 99-128.
29. Schuster S, Cabrera D, Arrese M, et al. Triggering and resolution of inflammation in NASH. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2018; 15(6): 349-364.
30. Boutari C, Perakakis N, Mantzoros CS. Association of adipokines with development and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Endocrinol Metab (Seoul) 2018; 33(1): 33-43.
31. Rampally V, Biri SK, Nair IK, et al. Determination of association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and carotid artery atherosclerosis among nondiabetic individuals. J Fam Med Prim Care 2020; 9(2): 1182-1186.
32. Gusev E, Sarapultsev A. Atherosclerosis and inflammation: insights from the theory of general pathological processes. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24(9): 7910. doi: 10.3390/ijms24097910.
33. Richaud E, Audouin L, Fayolle B, et al. Rate constants of oxidation of unsaturated fatty esters studied by chemiluminescence. Chem Phys Lipids 2012; 165(7): 753-759.
34. Wang G, McConn BR, Liu D, et al. The effects of dietary macronutrient composition on lipid metabolism- associated factor gene expression in the adipose tissue of chickens are influenced by fasting and refeeding. BMC Obes 2017; 4: 14. doi: 10.1186/s40608-017-0150-8.
35. Matsubara Y, Endo T, Kano K. Fatty acids but not dexamethasone are essential inducers for chick adipocyte differentiation in vitro. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2008; 151(4): 511-518.
36. Joe AW, Yi L, Even Y, et al. Depot-specific differences in adipogenic progenitor abundance and proliferative response to high-fat diet. Stem Cells 2009; 27(10): 2563-2570.
37. Berthoud HR, Münzberg H, Richards BK, et al. Neural and metabolic regulation of macronutrient intake and selection. Proc Nutr Soc 2012; 71(3): 390-400.
38. Liu CM, Kanoski SE. Homeostatic and non-homeostatic controls of feeding behavior: distinct vs. common neural systems. Physiol Behav 2018; 193(Pt B): 223-231.
39. Obradovic M, Sudar-Milovanovic E, Soskic S, et al. Leptin and obesity: role and clinical implication. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021; 12: 585887. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.585887.
40. Shawky SM. Effect of short-term high fat diet inducing obesity on hematological, some biochemical parameters and testicular oxidative stress in male rats. J Adv Vet Res 2015; 5(4): 151-156.
41. Maysami S, Haley MJ, Gorenkova N, et al. Prolonged diet-induced obesity in mice modifies the inflammatory response and leads to worse outcome after stroke. J Neuroinflammation 2015; 12: 140. doi: 10.1186/s12974-015-0359-8.
42. Purdy JC, Shatzel JJ. The hematologic consequences of obesity. Eur J Hematol 2021; 106(3): 306-319.
Veterinary Research Forum
Volume 17, Issue 3
March 2026
Pages 183-190

  • Receive Date 16 February 2025
  • Revise Date 29 August 2025
  • Accept Date 11 October 2025

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us