Systemic effects of a high saturated fat diet in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis)

Food sources for North America’s grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis Ord, 1815) population have changed as habitats have fragmented, altering available resources and putting bears in contact with unnatural foods. Bears have evolved mechanisms to tolerate obesity, and do not develop adverse health consequences despite storing massive amounts of body fat. Captive adult grizzly bears were used to determine the effects of dietary fat on health. Group 1 was fed a diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) wherein 9.5% of available calories came from saturated fatty acids (SFA). Group 2 was fed a diet wherein 28.8% of calories came from SFA. Plasma fatty acids, serum lipid profiles, insulin, inflammatory markers, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and cardiac function parameters were measured. Serum lipids, SFA, and insulin did not differ between the two groups, although omega-3 fatty acids differed. Bears eating the SFA diet had significantly higher circulating adiponectin, interleukin-7 and interle...