title: Could a high-fat diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids impair the cardiovascular system?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dyslipidemia results from consumption of a diet rich in saturated fatty acids and is usually associated with cardiovascular disease. A diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids is usually associated with improved cardiovascular condition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether a high-fat diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids (U-HFD) - in which fatty acid represents approximately 45% of the total calories - impairs the cardiovascular system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male, 30-day-old Wistar rats were fed a standard (control) diet or a U-HFD containing 83% unsaturated fatty acid for 19 weeks. The in vivo electrocardiogram, the spectral analysis of heart rate variability, and the vascular reactivity responses to phenylephrine, acetylcholine, noradrenaline and prazosin in aortic ring preparations were analyzed to assess the cardiovascular parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 19 weeks, the U-HFD rats had increased total body fat, baseline glucose levels and feed efficiency compared with control rats. However, the final body weight, systolic blood pressure, area under the curve for glucose, calorie intake and heart weight⁄final body weight ratio were similar between the groups. In addition, both groups demonstrated no alteration in the electrocardiogram or cardiac sympathetic parameters. There was no difference in the responses to acetylcholine or the maximal contractile response of the thoracic aorta to phenylephrine between groups, but the concentration necessary to produce 50% of maximal response showed a decrease in the sensitivity to phenylephrine in U-HFD rats. The cumulative concentration- effect curve for noradrenaline in the presence of prazosin was shifted similarly in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present work shows that U-HFD did not impair the cardiovascular parameters analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Medei
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lima-Leopoldo
authors.forename: Pedro Paulo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Pereira-Junior
authors.forename: André Soares
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Leopoldo
authors.forename: Dijon Henrique Salomé
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Juliana Montani
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Raimundo
authors.forename: Roberto Takashi
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Sudo
authors.forename: Gisele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zapata-Sudo
authors.forename: Thiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bruder-Nascimento
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cordellini
authors.forename: José Hamilton Matheus
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Cicogna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated