Effects of short-term feeding of a highly palatable diet on vascular reactivity in rats

Numerous studies have shown that long-term consumption of high-fat, high-energy diet results in obesity, which in turn, leads to cardiovascular disorders. However, there is little or no data on the acute effects of a highly palatable diet on vascular function.

In this study we aimed to evaluate the changes in metabolic and vascular reactivity in Wistar rats fed a palatable diet for 2 days.

Two-days feeding of rats with a palatable diet did not effect body weight, fat-pad mass or gastrocnemius muscles weights. Nor there were any changes in plasma glucose, insulin or leptin levels. However, compared with chow-fed rats, palatable diet-fed rats had significantly raised plasma free fatty acids and triglycerides levels (for both, P < 0.01). Compared with chow-fed animals, vasorelaxation responses to carbamylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were significantly attenuated in palatable diet-fed rats (for both, P < 0.01). However, there were no differences in histamine-induced vasorelaxation between chow-fed and palatable diet-fed rats.

These data indicates that diet-induced endothelium-dependent and -independent vascular dysfunction occurs long before obesity develops.