Myocardial Lipid Accumulation Due to High Fat Diet in PPAR-Alpha Overexpressing Mouse Hearts Reduces Endocardial 2-D Principal Strains

Janusz H. Hankiewicz¹, Natasha H. Banke¹, E. Douglas Lewandowski¹

Myocardial lipid content and 2D strains in the epi- and endocardium of the LV were determined, over a two week period of high fat diet, in non-transgenic mice (NTG) and a transgenic mouse model of increased myocardial lipid due to cardiac-specific overexpression of the proxisome proliferators activated nuclear receptor α (PPAR α). High-resolution cardiac tagging revealed that high fat diet reduced endocardial E1 and E2 strains in PPAR α hearts, while 1H MRS showed a 130% greater lipid content in than NTG hearts. Close correlations between lipid content and 2D strains indicate increased myocardial stiffness is a consequence of elevated myocardial lipid.