Blood pressure, ventricular volume and number of cardiomyocyte nuclei in rats fed for 12 months on diets differing in fat composition

Blood pressure (BP), body mass (BM), ventricular volume (V[vent]) and the number of ventricular cardiomyocyte nuclei (N[vcn]) were analysed in rats fed different dietary fats. A total of 20 Wistar male rats were studied from 21 days old to 12 months of age and divided in the groups: soybean oil (S), canola oil(CA), lard and egg yolk (LE) and canola oil + lard and egg yolk (CA + LE). The diets had the same basal diet that included cornstarch, casein, maize, egg whits and mineral and vitamin mixtures. At the: moment of the sacrifice, the LE group had the greatest BP and V[vent] which was significantly higher than the other groups, and the S group had the greatest BM. The myocardial structure was apparently normal in the S and CA groups while it showed areas of diffuse interstitial fibrosis and hypertrophied cardiomyocytes in the LE group, and intramyocardial coronaries with thick tunica media and little interstitial fibrosis in CA + LE group. The N[vcn] was significantly higher in the CA group and it was lower in the LE group. These results suggest that the different dietary fats affect the myocardial structure, and the canola oil diet reduces the cardiomyocyte loss in the old rats. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.