title: Are Zucker obese rats a useful model for cardiovascular complications in metabolic syndrome? Physical, biochemical and oxidative stress considerations.
abstract: We wondered if Zucker obese (ZO) rats would be a good experimental model to evaluate cardiovascular complications of metabolic syndrome (MS). ZO rats were compared with both their littermate controls, Zucker lean (ZL) rats and to Wistar rats (reference strain). We designed this work:(i) to measure certain physical and biochemical characteristics of MS; (ii) to evaluate coronary and cardiac function in isolated conditions and after ischemia; and (iii) to study plasma and heart tissue oxidative stress markers. In vivo, ZO rats had higher levels of plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides than their ZL littermates, but there was no difference between the groups for systolic arterial blood pressure and heart rate. In vitro, coronary endothelial function was notably impaired in ZO and ZL rats. After global ischemia, the worse ventricular recovery in ZO and ZL rats was associated with arrhythmias during reperfusion. We detected similar levels of plasma ascorbyle free radical, oxygen radical absorbance capacity and vitamin C concentrations in the three groups. Dihydroethidium staining showed higher superoxide production in the coronary vessels of ZO rats than in ZL and Wistar rats. Our results show that ZO might only correspond to early-stage cardiovascular complications associated with MS.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physiopathologie et Pharmacologie Cardio-vasculaires Expérimentales, IFR no100, Facultés de Médecine et de Pharmacie, 7 bd Jeanne d'Arc BP87900, 21079 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Régine
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Debin
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lauzier
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sicard
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delemasure
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amoureux
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duvillard
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vergely
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cottin
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rochette
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006339:Heart Rate; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009765:Obesity; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011924:Rats, Zucker; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol