Omega-6 and omega-3 oxylipins are implicated in soybean oil-induced obesity

Soybean oil consumption is increasing worldwide and parallels the obesity epidemic in the U.S. Rich in unsaturated fats, especially linoleic acid, soybean oil is assumed to be healthy, and yet it induces obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance and fatty liver in mice. The genetically modified soybean oil Plenish came on the U.S. market in 2014: it is low in linoleic acid and similar to olive oil in fatty acid composition. Here we show that Plenish induces less obesity than conventional soybean oil: metabolomics, proteomics and a transgenic mouse model implicate oxylipin metabolites of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids (linoleic and a-linolenic acid, respectively), which are generated by target genes of nuclear receptor HNF4a. While Plenish induces less insulin resistance than conventional soybean oil, it results in hepatomegaly and liver dysfunction as does olive oil. Altering the fatty acid profile of soybeans could help reduce obesity but may also cause liver complications. Overall design: cDNA isolated from livers from WT or a7HMZ mice, were 100bp pair-ended sequenced using Illumina TruSeq RNA Sample Prep v2 Kit