High fat diet and fructose overload modify aortic vascular morphology and type C natriuretic peptide expression in rats

ÁLVAREZ PRIMO M; CHOI MR; LEE HJ; DONOSO AS; PUYÓ AM; CANTÚ SM; CAO G

Rosario

Encuentro; Reunión Anual SAFIS, Hotel Plaza Real, Rosario; 2019

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología

Metabolic and cardiovascular diseases are closely linked. Experimental models such as high-fat diet (HF) and/or fructose-overload (F) in rats resemble human metabolic syndrome (MS). Type C natriuretic peptide (CNP) produced in endothelial cells exert vasodilatory effects and a variety of metabolic actions. Therefore, we analyze the effects of F, HF diets and the combination of both (HF+F) on aortic vascular morphology and CNP immunoreactivity. Four groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied for 9 weeks: control (C): standard diet (SD) and tap water to drink; fructose-overloaded (F): SD and fructose solution (10% w/v) to drink; high-fat diet (HF): 50% (w/w) bovine fat added to SD and water to drink; fructose plus high-fat diet (HFF), both treatments. We evaluated CNP in aorta tissue by immunohistochemistry, expressed as integrated optical density (IOD), and aortic morphology measuring the wall thickness/lumen diameter ratio. Visceral adiposity index was calculated as mesenteric vascular bed fat weight/body weight x 100. All groups with dietary modification showed elevated insulinemia (ng/ml, F: 4.3±0.5, HF: 5.3±0.4, HFF: 4.3±0.2, vs C: 1.2±0.1; p