Abstract 12802: Western Diet Impairs Cardiac Systolic and Diastolic Function in the Mouse

Introduction: Western diet (WD), rich in saturated fat and sucrose, has pro-inflammatory properties and promotes cardiovascular disease. Whether WD has direct effects on cardiac function is unknown. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that WD would negatively affect cardiac systolic and diastolic function in the mouse. Methods: CD1 8 week-old male mice were fed with standard chow diet with 17% fat content (N=8) or WD with 42.0% fat content (N=11) for 8 weeks. Food intake was measured daily. Mice underwent transthoracic echocardiography under mild sedation with pentobarbital at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks to measure left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), ejection fraction (LVEF), mass (LVM), myocardial performance index (MPI) and isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT). Left ventricular catheterization through retrograde right carotid artery approach was performed with a Millar catheter to measure peak systolic pressure (LVPSP) and end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP). An additional group of female mice (N=13) ...