Abstract MP07: Nicotine Promotes Vascular Inflammation And Endothelial Dysfunction In Obese Rats

Epidemiological studies have shown that obesity and cigarette smoking (CS) are major cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and when coexisting in the same individuals have additive/synergistic effects upon CVD development. We have shown that stable compounds of CS (ATVB 2004) as well as nicotine, in concentrations found in smoker’s plasma, promote atherosclerotic CVD (AJP 2013). Here we studied in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with diet -induced obesity the mechanisms involved in nicotine enhancement of CVD. SD rats (N=6-7 each group) were fed either a high fat (HF) or a standard chow (SCH) diet with or without nicotine (100 mg/kg/day in the drinking water) for 20 weeks. The HF rats developed central obesity, characterized by increased body weight gain (22%) and abdominal fat weight (53%), increased plasma levels of cholesterol (33%), non-esterified free fatty acids (68%), insulin (15%) glucose (12%)and systolic blood pressure (SBP: 146 ± 5 vs. 131 ± 5 mmHg SCH rats, p<0.05). Nicotine further increased SBP in obese...