Changes in the Principal Fatty Acids of Total Lipids and Various Other Constituents of the Blood Plasma after Hypothalamic Hyperphagia and Forced Feeding in Geese

Force-fed Landes breed geese were pair fed for 25 days with Landes geese made hyperphagic by bilateral electrolytic lesioning of the ventromedian hypothalamus (VMH). We studied the effects of each treatment on weight gain, liver weight, glycemia, protidemia, bile acids and the main total fatty acids. Body weight and liver weights (340% with VMH lesions and 264% with forced feeding) increased considerably. Blood glycemia and cholesterolemia did not vary, while triglyceride, phospholipid and bile acid levels augmented significantly (p < 0.05). Only the force-fed geese showed hypoalbuminemia. The percentage of plasma-saturated fatty acids remained stable, while the content of monounsaturated fatty acids increased by 35 % and that of polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased by 33 and 38% in hyperphagic VMH and force-fed birds, respectively. The ratio of saturated fatty acid desaturation (MUFA/SFA) increased after treatment. On the contrary, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acid interconversion C20:4/C18:2 decreased in force-fed geese and increased in the VMH-lesioned birds. The different levels of plasma fatty acids and of albumin in the treated birds are discussed.