Introduction of high-fat and very-high-fat diets associated with fructose drink in critical development periods causes cardiovascular damage in rats at the beginning of adult life.

Objectives: Exposure to an obesogenic environment at critical stages of human development may lead to cardiovascular damage during early adulthood, such as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The objective of this study is to investigate whether the consumption of diets with different levels of fat associated with fructose drink, introduced to newly weaned rats, leads to cardiovascular damage.

Methods: Male Wistar rats (age 21 d) were divided into the following groups: Control (C group) fed an American Institute of Nutrition 93G diet (16.3 % kcal of lipid); high-fat diet (HF group: 45% kcal of lipids), and very-high-fat diet (VHF group: 60% kcal of lipids). The HF and VHF groups also received a fructose solution (10%) for hydration.

Results: After 70 d, the animals in the HF and VHF groups presented with cardiovascular damage as a comorbidity of obesity, with increased creatine kinase-MB levels, high heart and left ventricle (LV) mass, and an increase in the LV:tibia ratio. The positive correlation was observed between serum leptin levels and LV mass. In addition, the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 content in LV was lower.

Conclusions: The administration of diets with different fat and carbohydrate contents associated with fructose drinks introduced to newly weaned rats leads to LVH during early adulthood. The data suggest that the change in leptin-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway signaling in the groups is related to the occurrence of LVH.