Mild to moderate overweight in dogs: is there an impact on routine hematological and biochemical profiles, echocardiographic parameters and cardiac autonomic modulation?

Obesity is considered the most common nutritional disease of dogs. Even though overt obesity is more likely to impair health, even moderately overweight dogs are at greater risk for requiring medication for chronic health problems earlier in life. Although the number of overweight dogs far exceeds the number of obese ones, most of the studies published so far focused on derangements in a mixed overweight/obese population (Body condition score - BCS ≥7/9) rather than in separated groups.

Cardiovascular and Autonomic Responses after a Single Bout of Resistance Exercise in Men with Untreated Stage 2 Hypertension.

The aim of this paper is to assess the integrated responses of ambulatory blood pressure (BP), cardiac autonomic modulation, spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), and vascular reactivity after a single bout of resistance exercise (RE) in men with stage 2 hypertension who have never been treated before. Ten hypertensive men were subjected to a RE session of three sets of 20 repetitions and an intensity of 40% of the 1-repetition maximum (RM) test in seven different exercises. For the control (CTR) session, the volunteers were positioned on the exercise machines but did not perform any exercise.

Modulation of cardiac renin-angiotensin system, redox status and inflammatory profile by different volumes of aerobic exercise training in obese rats.

Overactivation of the classical arm of the renin-angiotensin (Ang) system (RAS) occurs during inflammation, oxidative stress and obesity-induced cardiomyopathy. The activation of the protective arm of RAS may act to counterbalance the deleterious effects of the classical RAS. Although aerobic exercise training (AET) shifts the balance of the RAS towards the protective arm, little is known about the molecular adaptations to different volumes of AET.

Exercise-induced cardiac opioid system activation attenuates apoptosis pathway in obese rats.

Aim: To compare the effect of 150 min vs. 300 min of weekly moderate intensity exercise training on the activation of the opioid system and apoptosis in the hearts of a diet-induced obesity model.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were fed with either control (CON) or high fat (HF) diet for 32 weeks.

I-imidazoline receptor-mediated cardiovascular and metabolic effects in high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome in rats.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a new I-imidazoline receptor-selective pyrroline compound on the hemodynamic, metabolic and microvascular alterations in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced model of metabolic syndrome in rats.

Methods: In total, twenty adult male Wistar rats were fed a high-fat diet (HFD, n = 20) for 20 weeks. Thereafter, the rats received a new pyrroline compound selective for I1-imidazoline receptors (LNP599; 10 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (n = 10/group) orally by gavage for 4 weeks.

Exercise training dose differentially alters muscle and heart capillary density and metabolic functions in an obese rat with metabolic syndrome.

What is the central question of this study? Regular exercise is recommended as a non-pharmacological approach for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome. However, the impact of different combinations of intensity, duration and frequency of exercise on metabolic syndrome and microvascular density has not been reported. What is the main finding and its importance? We provide evidence on the impact of aerobic exercise dose on metabolic and microvascular alterations in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome induced by high-fat diet.

High, but not low, exercise volume shifts the balance of renin-angiotensin system toward ACE2/Mas receptor axis in skeletal muscle in obese rats.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic risk factors that is linked to central obesity, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance (IR), and dyslipidemia, where the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may provide a link among them. This study aimed to evaluate volume exercise effects comparing low vs. high volume of chronic aerobic exercise on RAS axes in skeletal muscle in a diet-induced obesity (DIO) rat model.

Central Sympathetic Modulation Reverses Microvascular Alterations in a Rat Model of High-Fat Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the role of the SNS on hemodynamic, metabolic, and microvascular alterations in a rat model of HFD-induced MS with salt supplementation.

Methods: In total, 40 adult male Wistar rats were fed normal chow (n = 10) or a HFD (n = 30) for 20 weeks. Thereafter, the HFD group received the centrally acting sympatho-modulatory drugs clonidine (0.

Exercise Training Reverses Structural Microvascular Rarefaction and Improves Endothelium-Dependent Microvascular Reactivity in Rats with Diabetes.

Background: We evaluated structural microvascular alterations in the skeletal muscle and left ventricle, as well as endothelium-dependent microvascular reactivity in the skeletal muscle, of diabetic rats subjected to long-term aerobic exercise training.

Methods: Diabetes was experimentally induced by a combination of a high-fat diet with a single low dose of streptozotocin (35 mg/kg, i.p.

Physical exercise restores microvascular function in obese rats with metabolic syndrome.

Background: Obesity and metabolic syndrome are related to systemic functional microvascular alterations, including a significant reduction in microvessel density. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on functional capillary density in the skeletal muscle and skin of obese rats with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We used male Wistar-Kyoto rats that had been fed a standard commercial diet (CON) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 32 weeks.