Background/AimHypercaloric diet ingestion and sedentary lifestyle result in obesity. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of clinical features secondary to obesity, considered as a pre-diabetic condition and recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. To better understand the relationship between obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease as well as for the development of novel therapeutic strategies, animal models that reproduce the etiology, course and outcomes of these pathologies are required. The aim of this work was to characterize the long-term effects of high-fat diet-induced obesity on the mice cardiovascular system, in order to make available a new animal model for diabetic cardiomyopathy.Methods/ResultsMale C57BL/6 mice were fed with a standardized high-fat diet (obese) or regular diet (normal) for 16 months. Metabolic syndrome was evaluated testing plasma glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, insulin, and glucose tolerance. Arterial pressure was measured using a sphygmomanometer (non invasive method) and by hemodynamic parameters (invasive method). Cardiac anatomy was described based on echocardiography and histological studies. Cardiac function was assessed by cardiac catheterization under a stress test. Cardiac remodelling and metabolic biomarkers were assessed by RT-qPCR and immunoblotting. As of month eight, the obese mice were overweight, hyperglycaemic, insulin resistant, hyperinsulinemic and hypercholesterolemic. At month 16, they also presented normal arterial pressure but altered vascular reactivity (vasoconstriction), and cardiac contractility reserve reduction, heart mass increase, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cardiac fibrosis, and heart metabolic compensations. By contrast, the normal mice remained healthy throughout the study.ConclusionsMice fed with a high-fat diet for prolonged time recapitulates the etiology, course and outcomes of the early phases of human diabetic cardiomyopathy.

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Con financiamiento del Gobierno Regional de Aysén el Instituto Forestal está desarrollando el programa Herramienta Sostenible para Negocios de Biomasa, cuyo principal objetivo es la búsqueda de alternativas tecnológicas para la producción de energía a partir de biomasa forestal que permitan la generación de esta con menores niveles de contaminación del aire y mayor eficiencia que con el tradicional uso de leña para este fin. Países europeos, como España, Alemania y Suecia, han desarrollado diferentes técnicas de generación de energía a partir de biomasa forestal a mediana y pequeña escala para distribuir calefacción y electricidad a pequeños pueblos, empresas y edificios residenciales o para proveer combustibles basados en biomasa, como pellets, astillas y otros. Dentro del marco del programa en Aysén se realizó en junio de 2016 una gira técnica a los países mencionados para visitar empresas, instituciones de investigación e investigadores vinculados con el uso de biomasa con fines energéticos