The pathophysiological role of oxidized cholesterols in epicardial fat accumulation and cardiac dysfunction: A study in swine fed a high caloric diet with an inhibitor of intestinal cholesterol absorption, ezetimibe

Oxidized cholesterols in food have been recognized as strong atherogenic components, but their tissue distributions and roles in cardiovascular diseases remain unclear. To investigate whether accumulation of oxycholesterols is linked to cardiac morphology and function, and whether reduction of oxycholesterols can improve cardiac performance, domestic male swine were randomized to a control diet (C), high caloric diet (HCD), or high caloric diet + ezetimibe, an inhibitor of intestinal cholesterol absorption, group (HCD+E) and evaluated for: (1) distribution of oxycholesterol components in serum and tissues; (2) levels of oxycholesterol-related enzymes; (3) paracardial and epicardial coronary fat thickness; and (4) cardiac performance.

Source: The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry - May 30, 2016 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Michio Shimabukuro, Chinami Okawa, Hirotsugu Yamada, Shuhei Yanagi, Etsuko Uematsu, Noriko Sugasawa, Hirotsugu Kurobe, Yoichiro Hirata, Joo-Ri Kim-kaneyama, Xiao-feng Lei, Shoichiro Takao, Yasutake Tanaka, Daiju Fukuda, Shusuke Yagi, Takeshi Soeki, Tetsuy Source Type: research