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Updated: May 21, 2026
Study of In Vivo Glucose Metabolism in High-fat Diet-fed Mice Using Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and Insulin Tolerance Test (ITT)
Published on: January 7, 2018
High fat diet-induced glucose intolerance impairs myocardial function, but not myocardial perfusion during
Charissa E van den Brom1, Carolien S E Bulte, B Margreet Kloeze
1Department of Anesthesiology, VU University Medical Center, Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. c.vandenbrom@vumc.nl
Background:
Glucose intolerance is a major health problem and is associated with increased risk of progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. However, whether glucose intolerance is related to impaired myocardial perfusion is not known. The purpose of the present study was to study the effect of diet-induced glucose intolerance on myocardial function and perfusion during baseline and pharmacological induced hyperaemia.
Methods:
Male Wistar rats were randomly exposed to a high fat diet (HFD) or control diet (CD) (n = 8 per group). After 4 weeks, rats underwent an oral glucose tolerance test. Subsequently, rats underwent (contrast) echocardiography to determine myocardial function and perfusion during baseline and dipyridamole-induced hyperaemia (20 mg/kg for 10 min).
Results:
Four weeks of HFD feeding resulted in glucose intolerance compared to CD-feeding. Contractile function as represented by fractional shortening was not altered in HFD-fed rats compared to CD-fed rats under baseline conditions. However, dipyridamole increased fractional shortening in CD-fed rats, but not in HFD-fed rats. Basal myocardial perfusion, as measured by estimate of perfusion, was similar in CD- and HFD-fed rats, whereas dipyridamole increased estimate of perfusion in CD-fed rats, but not in HFD-fed rats. However, flow reserve was not different between CD- and HFD-fed rats.
Conclusions:
Diet-induced glucose intolerance is associated with impaired myocardial function during conditions of hyperaemia, but myocardial perfusion is maintained. These findings may result in new insights into the effect of glucose intolerance on myocardial function and perfusion during hyperaemia.
