Development and characterization of a clinically relevant rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a devastating disease of the heart, which increases the risk of heart failure in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). DCM is characterized by structural and functional changes of the myocardium, which are attributable only to the presence of DM and not to confounding factors or diseases. To date, little is known about the pathophysiology of this disease and there is no specific treatment available. Therefore, a clinically relevant animal model, in which DCM is developed after induction of DM, is warranted. This study showed that the combination of a high fat diet and a low dose of streptozotocin is efficient to induce type 2 diabetes, a deteriorated left ventricular relaxation and an increased left ventricular pressure in a rat model. Moreover, rats which are fed only a high fat diet, will develop the insulin resistance syndrome. This nongenetic rat model has the additional advantage of being easy to induce and can be used in the future to unravel the molecular mechanisms of DCM.