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Dietary supplementation with omega-3 PUFA increases adiponectin and attenuates ventricular remodeling and dysfunction with pressure overload.

Duda MK, O'Shea KM, Lei B, Barrows BR, Azimzadeh AM, McElfresh TE, Hoit BD, Kop WJ, Stanley WC

Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiological studies suggest that consumption of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFA) decreases the risk of heart failure. We assessed the effects of dietary supplementation with omega-3 PUFA from fish oil on the response of the left ventricle (LV) to arterial pressure overload. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were fed a standard chow or a omega-3 PUFA-supplemented diet. After 1 week rats underwent abdominal aortic banding or sham surgery (n=9-12/group). LV function was assessed by echocardiography after 8 weeks. In addition, we studied the effect of omega-3 PUFA on the cardioprotective adipocyte-derived hormone adiponectin, which may alter the pro-growth serine-threonine kinase Akt. RESULTS: Banding increased LV mass to a greater extent with the standard chow (31%) than with omega-3 PUFA (18%). LV end diastolic and systolic volumes were increased by 19% and 105% with standard chow, respectively, but were unchanged with omega-3 PUFA. The expression of adiponectin was up-regulated in adipose tissue, and the plasma adiponectin concentration was significantly elevated. Treatment with omega-3 PUFA increased total Akt protein expression in the heart, but decreased the fraction of Akt in the active phosphorylated form, and thus did not alter the amount of active phospho-Akt. CONCLUSION: Dietary supplementation with omega-3 PUFA attenuated pressure overload-induced LV dysfunction, which was associated with elevated plasma adiponectin.

Published 15 October 2007 in Cardiovasc Res, 76(2): 303-10.
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