Male and Female High Fat Fed Dahl SS rats are largely protected from vascular dysfunctions: PVAT contributions reveal sex differences

Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2021 Apr 30. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00131.2021. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTVascular dysfunctions are observed in arteries from hypertensive subjects. The establishment of the Dahl SS male and female rat model to develop a reproducible hypertension with high fat (HF) diet feeding from weaning allows addressing the question of whether HF-diet associated hypertension results in vascular dysfunction similar to that of essential hypertension in both sexes. We hypothesized that dysfunction of three distinct vascular layers -- endothelial, smooth muscle and perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) -- would be present in aorta from HF vs control diet fed male and female rats. Dahl SS rats were fed a control (10% Kcal from fat) or HF (60%) diet from weaning for 24 weeks. Male and female Dahl SS became equally hypertensive when placed on the HF diet. For males and females, the thoracic aorta exhibited medial hypertrophy in HF diet-induced hypertension vs control but did not display a hyperresponsive contraction to the alpha adrenergic agonist phenylephrine nor endothelial cell dysfunction as measured by acetylcholine-induced relaxation. A beneficial PVAT function, support of stress relaxation, was reduced in the male vs female fed a HF diet. PVAT in aorta of males but not females retained anticontractile activity. We conclude that this HF model does not display the same vascular dysfunctions observed in essential hypertension. Moreover, the male and female ...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Source Type: research