Involvement of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome in the vascular dysfunction induced by high fat diet

Objective: The past four decades have witnessed rapid improvement in living standards worldwide, and nutritional obesity has attracted increasing attention. To further understand the cardiovascular complications caused by a high-fat diet (HFD), there is an immediate need to focus on the effects of HFD on vascular structure and functions. Methods: The effects of HFD on physiological and biochemical indices were evaluated using ELISA kits, and the associated vascular abnormalities were investigated using microscopy and vasodilatation examination. Besides, NLRP3 inflammasome expression and activation were assessed by immunofluorescence, western blotting, and RT-qPCR assays. Results: Body weight and plasma insulin levels were found to be significantly increased in the HFD group by the third week, while fasting glucose concentrations and insulin resistance index apparently increased by the sixth week, and the changes in aortic structures occurred at the ninth week, suggesting that insulin resistance contributed to the elevated fasting glucose in the HFD group in a time-dependent pattern, following the pathological changes of aortic tissues. Further analysis showed increased expression and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in the HFD group, which might have inhibited the vasodilatation during the sixth week. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in promoting HFD-induced vascular dysfunction.