Heart-protective effect of n-3 PUFA demonstrated in a rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy.

This study was designed to examine in vivo functional changes of the heart in the early stages of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic cardiomyopathy and to evaluate the effects of n-3 PUFA intake. Moreover, we investigated whether modulation of diabetes-related abnormalities of myocardial connexin-43 (Cx43), β-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC), and β1-adrenergic receptors (β1-AR) might be implicated in the cardioprotective mechanism of n-3 PUFA. Our results showed significantly reduced cardiac output and ejection fraction (using the microtip pressure-volume catheter technique) as well as stroke volume and stroke work, 4 weeks after STZ-induced diabetes, with improvement of these parameters due to n-3 PUFA consumption.