Key result
Purified diet impairs coronary flow reserve in hypertensive female rats compared to grain-based chow.
Why the study?
Effective treatment strategies for coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) are limited due to the scarcity of physiologically relevant animal models that capture hypertension, the predominant risk factor for CMD in humans.
Does a purified diet induce coronary microvascular dysfunction in female spontaneously hypertensive rats?
Does a purified diet induce coronary microvascular dysfunction in female spontaneously hypertensive rats?
Female spontaneously hypertensive rats fed a purified diet develop coronary microvascular dysfunction, providing a novel animal model for studying hypertension-related CMD.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Should not yet change clinical practice; hypothesis-generating model extends study of diet-dependent coronary microvascular dysfunction in female hypertension.
OBJECTIVE: Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) drives angina in patients with ischemia with non-obstructive coronary artery disease, a condition that is more prevalent in females. Effective treatment strategies remain limited, in part, due to the scarcity of physiologically relevant animal models. Indeed, while CMD has been studied in animals with diabetes or fed high-fat diets, hypertension is the predominant risk factor for CMD in humans, but is not captured by these models. METHODS: We characterized the CMD that arose in female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). We measured coronary flow reserve, alongside basic cardiovascular function in SHRs and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKYs) fed a purified diet, as well as SHRs consuming a grain-based chow (GBC) diet. RESULTS: SHRs on a purified diet, but not WKYs or SHRs consuming GBC, exhibited impaired coronary flow reserve as assessed by echocardiography. This occurred despite the persistence of hypertension in SHRs irrespective of diet. CONCLUSIONS: SHRs develop a diet-dependent CMD, which can serve as a model to study hypertension-related CMD.
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Najjar et al. (2026) studied Coronary microvascular dysfunction. Purified diet vs. Grain-based chow (GBC) diet and normotensive WKYs was evaluated on Coronary flow reserve assessed by echocardiography. Female spontaneously hypertensive rats fed a purified diet, but not those on grain-based chow or normotensive controls, exhibited impaired coronary flow reserve despite persistent hypertension.
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