EFFECT OF HYPERLIPIDIC DIET AND AEROBIC TRAINING ON ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN apoE-/- MICE

Introduction: The Brazilian population has followed the trend of developed countries, whose characteristic is the increased consumption of fats and sedentary lifestyle. Objective: To investigate the effects of high fat diet and training on body weight, food intake, lean body mass, plasma lipids, liver weight and atherosclerosis in mice with apolipoprotein E (apoE-/-) deficiency. Methods: 26 rats were divided into groups/diet: NS (normolipidic and sedentary), HS (high fat and sedentary), NT (normolipidic and training) and HT (high fat and training). Body weight (BW), food intake (FI) and relative liver weight (RLW) were measured in a Gehaka BG2000 scales. The water from the carcass (A%) was calculated from the weight difference between the pre- and post-drying, the fat (% F) was calculated by Soxhlet, and the protein (P%) by Kjeldahl. We determined total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and HDL by colorimetric enzymatic method and VLDL and LDL by the Friedewald formula. Atherosclerosis was analyzed by photomicrography. We used ANOVA as well as the Duncan's method, P<0.05. Results: In the initial and final BW, there was no difference in F% and P% between groups (P>0.05). The high fat diet increased the FI (365,3 +/- 5,09 vs. 340,16 +/- 6,32) and LDL (452,20 +/- 114,63 vs. 329,60 +/- 77,54) in the sedentary animals and TC (858,75 +/- 140,84 vs. 320,87 +/- 157,81) and LDL (839,36 +/- 139,94 vs. 282,66 +/- 166,92) in trained ones (P<0.05). On the other hand, training increased the CA (350,4 +/- 7,81 vs. 340,16 +/- 6,32) and A% (64,23 +/- 2,46 vs. 62,62 +/- 1,47) in normolipidic mice and decreased FI (336,68 +/- 6,23 vs 365,3 +/- 5,09), TG (22,75 +/- 12,36 vs. 66,00 +/- 21,88), HDL (14,83 +/- 3,95 vs. 37,60 +/- 13,12), VLDL (4,55 +/- 2,47 vs. 13,20 +/- 4,37) and atherosclerosis (0,35 +/- 0,13 vs. 0,56 +/- 0,12) in hyperlipidic mice (P<0.05). Conclusion: A high fat diet can trigger disturbances in the lipid metabolism and thereby trigger cardiovascular disease, but when associated with activity may decrease atherosclerosis.