Evaluation of central effect of CART on cardiovascular parameters of diet-induced obesity mice

• Grant number: 15/07944-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2015
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Vagner Roberto Antunes
• Grantee: Deborah de Paula Romeu
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, obesity currently has reached epidemic proportions globally and it affects 39% of adults worldwide. Although several studies in this area, little is known about the mechanisms by which the excessive accumulation of fat results in hypertension. Hypertension affects 40% of the population, and was the major cause of deaths, about 9.4 million, worldwide in 2010. There are several experimental evidences linking obesity with sympathetic overactivity to different territories of the body, a phenotype that could be involved in the genesis and maintenance of hypertension associated with obesity. Recent studies from our laboratory have shown mice fed with a high fat diet for 8 weeks, become obese and hypertensive, and mRNA expression of CART - cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript - was upregulated in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH). In addition, CART overexpression was positively correlated with increased systolic blood pressure and the sympathovagal balance of the heart in these animals. Taking these finding together, our goal in this project is to unravel the role of central (icv) administration of CART upon the blood pressure, heart rate and sympathovagal balance of conscious high-fat fed mice.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ROMEU, DEBORAH DE PAULA; RIBEIRO, LUCIENE MARIA; ANTUNES, VAGNER ROBERTO. Central action of CART induces neuronal activation in the paraventricular and dorsomedial hypothalamus of diet-induced obese and lean mice. Neuroscience Letters, v. 686, p. 175-180, NOV 1 2018. (15/07944-0, 16/21991-3, 13/06206-0)