Copyright © 2007, European Society of Cardiology
High-fat diet up-regulates caveolin-1 expression in aorta of diet-induced obese but not in diet-resistant rats
aDepartment of Nutrition ... Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science ... Technology, Wuhan 430030, PR China
bDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science ... Technology, Wuhan 430030, PR China
cDepartment of Public Health, WenZhou Medical College, WenZhou 325035, PR China
dDepartment of Biological Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Shujitsu University, Okayama 703-8258, Japan
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 027 8369 2711; fax: +86 027 8369 3307. yingchenjiang{at}yahoo.com
Objective Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is considered as a negative regulator of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and influences various cardiovascular functions. The objective of the study is to investigate the effects of high-fat diet on vascular Cav-1 expression and eNOS activities.
Methods Male outbred Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with a high-fat diet for 15 weeks to induce obesity. The diet-induced obese (DIO) rats were then divided into two groups. One group (DIO-LF) was fed a normal diet and another group (DIO-HF) along with diet-resistance (DR) rats were fed a high-fat diet for 8 more weeks. Cav-1 expression was determined using reverse transcription (RT)-PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry techniques. NOS activities were assessed using Griess reagents. Protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) and eNOS expression and phosphorylation were determined by Western blotting.
Results A high-fat diet up-regulated Cav-1 and down-regulated eNOS expression in aorta of DIO rats, but not in that of DR rats. These effects were reversed in DIO rats after switching to a low-fat diet for 8 weeks. Decreased NOS activities in aortas were observed in DIO rats, but not in DR rats. Phosphorylation of PKB/Akt and eNOS (Ser1177) were enhanced in aortas of DIO rats of both DIO-HF and DIO-LF groups.
Conclusion These findings suggest that the decrease of vascular NOS activities in rats fed a high-fat diet were due, at least in part, to the up-regulation of Cav-1 expression.
KEYWORDS High-fat diet; Obesity; Diet-resistance; Caveolin-1; Endothelial nitric oxide synthase