Western diet triggers Toll-like receptor 4 signaling-induced endothelial dysfunction in female Wistar rats.

Western diet triggers Toll-like receptor 4 signaling-induced endothelial dysfunction in female Wistar rats. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2018 Dec 01;315(6):H1735-H1747 Authors: Kramer B, França LM, Zhang Y, Paes AMA, Gerdes AM, Carrillo-Sepulveda MA Abstract Overconsumption of a diet rich in fat and carbohydrates, called the Western diet, is a major contributor to the global epidemic of cardiovascular disease. Despite previously documented cardiovascular protection exhibited in female rats, this safeguard may be lost under certain metabolic stressors. We hypothesized that female Wistar rats challenged by a Western diet composed of 21% fat and 50% carbohydrate (34.1% sucrose) for 17 wk would develop endothelial dysfunction via endothelial Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling. Western diet-fed female rats exhibited dysregulation of metabolism, revealing increased body weight and abdominal fat, decreased expression of adiponectin in white adipose tissue, glucose intolerance, and impaired insulin sensitivity. Western diet exposure increased hepatic triglycerides and cholesterol alongside hepatic steatosis, categorizing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Moreover, a Western diet negatively affected vascular function, revealing hypertension, impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, aortic remodeling, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Aortic protein expression of TLR4 and its downstream proteins were markedl...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol Source Type: research