Influence of a high-fat diet on cardiac iNOS in female rats.

Influence of a high-fat diet on cardiac iNOS in female rats. Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2016 Oct 25; Authors: Isenovic ER, Jovanovic A, Milovanovic ES, Milovanovic S, Pitt SJ, Stewart AJ, Zafirovic S, Stanimirovic J, Radak D Abstract Overexpression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is a key link between high-fat (HF) diet induced obesity and cardiovascular disease. Oestradiol has cardioprotective effects that may be mediated through reduction of iNOS activity/expression. In the present study, female Wistar rats were fed a standard diet or a HF diet (42% fat) for 10 weeks. iNOS gene and protein expressions were measured in heart tissue. HF-fed rats exhibited a significant increase in cardiac iNOS mRNA by 695% (p<0.05), iNOS protein level by 248% (p<0.01), without changes in nitrate/nitrite levels. Expression of CD36 protein in plasma membranes was increased by 37% (p<0.05), while the concentration of free fatty acids (FFA) was reduced by 25% (p<0.01) in HF-fed rats. Expression of the p50 subunit of nuclear factor-κB (NFκB-p50) in heart was increased by 77% (p<0.01) in HF-fed rats. Expression of protein kinase B (Akt) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) were unchanged between the groups. There was a significant increase in the ratio of phospho-Akt/total Akt but not for phospho-ERK1/2/total ERK1/2 in HF-fed rats. Estrogen receptor-α levels (by 50%; p<0.05) and serum oestradiol concentrations (b...
Source: Current Vascular Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Curr Vasc Pharmacol Source Type: research