Physical Characteristics
During the experimental period, the rats in each group grew well, and there was no significant difference in initial body weight. It can be seen from Figure 1 that the body weight of the rats has increased, and there is no significant difference between the groups at each time point (P > 0.05). The experimental results show that under the condition of intake of nutritional energy, the addition and type of dietary fat has no significant effect on the body mass of rats (P > 0.05). Under the conditions of intake and other nutritional energy, the addition and types of dietary fat have no significant effect on the body mass of rats.
It can be seen from table 3 that dietary fat has no significant effect on the heart index, spleen index and kidney index of rats in each group, indicating that the addition and type of dietary fat has no effect on rat kidney, heart and spleen. The liver index of JL group was significantly higher than that of rats in WZ, YY and DY groups (P < 0.05).
Blood biochemical indicators
As is shown in Table 4, compared with the JL group, the serum GLU content of rats in the SY group and the DY group was relatively low, but the difference was not significant. The fasting blood glucose value (GLU) of rats in the YY group was lower than that of the WZ group, and significantly lower than other dietary fat mixed diet groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the JL group, the serum total cholesterol (TC) content of the SY group was relatively lower. The serum TC content of rats in the YY group was significantly lower than that in the WZ group and other dietary fat mixed diet groups (P < 0.05). Serum triglyceride (TG) levels in WZ and YY groups were significantly lower than in SY, JL and DY groups (P < 0.05). Compared with refined lard, stewed lard can reduce the content of TC and TG in rat serum to a certain extent. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) of WZ and DY groups was significantly higher than that of SY, JL and YY groups (P < 0.05). The HDL-C content of YY group was lower than that of other groups. The level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in the JL group was significantly higher than that in the YY and DY groups (P < 0.05). The serum HDL-C level of the SY group was higher than that of the JL lard group and the LDL-C level was lower than that of the JL group, but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05).
Morphology of rat intestine
As is shown in Fig.2 and Table 5, the villus height of the homozygous diet supplemented with dietary fat was significantly higher than that of the fat-free group (P < 0.05). The increase in villus height helps to improve the intestinal health of rats, thereby increasing their digestion and absorption of nutrients ability. The depth of the crypt reflects the rate of intestinal villi forming epithelial cells, and the shallower crypt indicates that the maturation rate of intestinal epithelial cells has increased. The villi and crypts in the intestinal tract of rats in the homozygous diet supplemented with dietary fat grew better, and their digestive physiological functions were better than those in the WZ group, which helped the growth of animals. The intestinal wall thickness of the WZ group was significantly lower than that of other homozygous diets supplemented with dietary fat (P < 0.05). The ratio of villus length/crypt depth in the WZ group was significantly lower than that of other homozygous diets supplemented with dietary fat (P < 0.05). The ratio of villus height/crypt depth in the SY group was higher than that of the other groups, it shows that the intake of a certain amount of stewed lard can increase the villus height and crypt depth of the duodenum and jejunum, and enhance the digestion and absorption function of the intestine.
Cholesterol and triglyceride content in rat liver
As is shown in Fig. 3, it is found that the cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in the liver of the fish oil group were significantly lower than those of the other homozygous diets supplemented with dietary fat (P < 0.05). Fish oil not only significantly reduced the blood lipid content in rat serum, but also significantly reduced the cholesterol and triglyceride content in the liver.
Richness and diversity analyses
The community richness estimators (Chao and ACE), and diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson) were calculated in order to evaluate the alpha diversity (Table 6). The Chao1 and ACE indexes of the SY group were higher than other experimental groups. Compared with other dietary fat mixed diet groups, the Chao1 and ACE indexes of the WZ group were relatively low, and the Shannon index was relatively low. Experimental results show that stewed lard can increase the abundance of intestinal flora to a certain extent, while fat-free diet will reduce the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora.
Rat Fecal Microbe Composition
At the phylum level, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were predominant in all samples. In the WZ group, Bacteroidetes was the most abundant phylum, accounting for 48.00%, followed by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria accounting for 44.11% and 3.37% respectively. In the SY group, Bacteroidetes was the most abundant phylum, accounting for 54.50%, followed by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria accounting for 42.47% and 1.22%, respectively. In the JL group, Bacteroidetes was the most abundant phylum, accounting for 51.20%, followed by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria accounting for 43.76% and 2.11%, respectively. In the YY group, Bacteroidetes was the most abundant phylum, accounting for 67.74%, followed by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, accounting for 29.09% and 1.74%, respectively. In the DY group, Bacteroidetes was the most abundant phylum, accounting for 54.93%, followed by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria accounting for 37.65% and 2.11%, respectively. It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the dominant bacteria attached to the WZ group, SY group, JL group, YY group and DY group are basically the same at the phylum level, and there are significant individual differences among all samples. As is shown in Table 7, the proportion of Bacteroidetes in each sample ranges from 41.52% to 77.38%, and the proportion of Firmicutes in each sample ranges from 20.90% to 48.52%. The proportion of Proteobacteria in each sample ranges from 0.71% to 6.20%. It can be seen from Table 7 that the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) in the SY group is 0.79 lower than that of the JL group. Compared with the fat-added diet group, the abundance of Bacteroidetes in the WZ group decreased, and the abundance of Firmicutes increased. The F/B ratio of the WZ group was the highest at 0.92. In addition, the abundance of Bacteroidetes in the YY group was significantly higher than that in the fat-free group (P < 0.05), the abundance of Firmicutes in the YY group was significantly lower than that in the SY, JL, and WZ groups (P < 0.05), and the lowest F/B ratio in the YY group is 0.44.
As is shown in Fig. 5 and Table 8, the abundance of Bacteroidaceae in the SY group was 29.95% higher than the other groups, and was significantly higher than that in the JL group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the abundance of Bacteroidaceae in the WZ, YY and DY groups. The abundance of S24-7 in the WZ group was lower than that of other dietary fat mixed diet groups, and significantly lower than that of the JL group (P < 0.05). The abundance of S24-7 in SY group was not significantly different from WZ, YY and DY groups. The highest abundance of Ruminococcaceae in the WZ group was 19.82%, and the lowest abundance of Ruminococcaceae in the YY group was 12.60%.