Kashmiri Wazwan: Are We Listening to Our Endothelium?

Abstract

In animal models of diet-induced obesity, hypercaloric (4.6 Kcal/g) diets have been shown to have metabolic hormonal effects, including hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and changes in leptin profiles ¹, as well as undesirable effects on blood pressure homeostasis and even cardiac remodeling. Such effects have been directly and inversely correlated with saturated and unsaturated lipid consumption, respectively. In these experimental models, it also has been elegantly demonstrated that a variety of alterations in cardiac structure and function occur due to reduced myofilament Ca²⁺ sensitivity, alterations in Ca²⁺ handling proteins and beta-adrenergic receptors^2-5. JMS 2013;16(2):72-74