Male Wistar rats were fed ad libitum for 12 weeks a powdered diet (AIN93G; no fat) containing 7 wt% of fresh oil (control), and frying oils heated for 20 h at 180 degrees C with amino acids, gluten, sugar, and wheat starch, respectively. The rats were subjected to anthropometric measurements, hematological analyses, and observations of the liver and kidneys. All of the rats grew well, and no gross symptoms attributable to the experimental oils were observed. The serum of all the experimental groups showed a tendency toward lower levels of triacylglycerol and free fatty acids and higher levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) than that of the control group. Among experimental groups, the rats fed a diet containing oil heated with gluten were least influenced by thermally deteriorated oil in terms of serum levels of glucose, triacylglycerol, phospholipids, cholesterol, and insulin; histological evaluations; and number of dark-red patches found on the surface of the liver.