Effects of red palm oil intervention on serum lipids, hepatic antioxidant capacity and gut microbiota in high-fat diet-fed mice.

High-fat diets (HFDs) can induce oxidative stress and gut microbiota imbalance, highlighting the need to explore functional dietary lipids such as red palm oil (RPO) for metabolic health improvement. This study investigated the effects of RPO intervention administered through oral gavage on growth performance, serum lipid profile, hepatic antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in HFD-fed mice. Compared to the high-fat control (HO) group, RPO treatment significantly reduced triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Furthermore, hepatic antioxidant capacity was markedly enhanced, as evidenced by improved superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the HFD group receiving RPO. Moreover, RPO supplementation reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and attenuated hepatic steatosis. Gut microbiota analysis showed that RPO administration enhanced the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria while reducing potentially harmful taxa. Overall, these findings demonstrate that oral gavage of RPO can effectively alleviate HFD-induced metabolic disturbances by improving lipid metabolism, enhancing hepatic antioxidant defenses, and modulating gut microbial composition.