17ß-Estradiol protects against the effects of a high fat diet on cardiac glucose, lipid and nitric oxide metabolism in rats

Sonja Zafirovic, Milan Obradovic, Emina Sudar-Milovanovic, Aleksandra Jovanovic, Julijana Stanimirovic, Alan J. Stewart, Samantha J. Pitt, Esma R. Isenovic

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vivo effects of estradiol (E2) on myocardial metabolism and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression/activity in obese rats. Male Wistar rats were fed with a normal or a high fat (HF) diet (42% fat) for 10 weeks. Half of the HF fed rats were treated with a single dose of E2 while the other half were placebo-treated. 24h after treatment animals were sacrificed. E2 reduced cardiac free fatty acid (FFA) (p<0.05), L-arginine (p<0.01), iNOS mRNA (p<0.01), and protein (p<0.05) levels and translocation of the FFA transporter (CD36) (p<0.01) to the plasma membrane (PM) in HF fed rats. In contrast, Akt phosphorylation at Thr308 (p<0.05) and translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 (p<0.05) to the PM increased after E2 tretment in HF rats. Our results indicate that E2 acts via PI3K/Akt signaling pathway to partially protect myocardial metabolism by attenuating the detrimental effects of increased iNOS expression/activity in HF fed rats.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12-20
Number of pages9
JournalMolecular and Cellular Endocrinology
Volume446
Early online date2 Feb 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 May 2017

Keywords

  • Estradiol
  • Obesity
  • Myocardial metabolism
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Inducible nitric oxide synthase

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '17ß-Estradiol protects against the effects of a high fat diet on cardiac glucose, lipid and nitric oxide metabolism in rats'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this