Type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia oftentimes present in combination. However, the relative roles of diabetes and diet-induced dyslipidemia in mediating changes in vascular structure, mechanics, and function are poorly understood. Our hypothesis was that addition of a high-fat diet would exacerbate small artery remodeling, compliance, and vascular dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. Vascular remodeling indices [media/lumen (M/L) ratio, collagen abundance and turnover, and matrix metalloproteinase dynamics], mechanical properties (vessel stiffness), and reactivity to pressure and vasoactive factors were measured in third-order mesenteric arteries in control Wistar and type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats fed either a regular or high-fat diet. M/L ratios, total collagen, and myogenic tone were increased in diabetes. Addition of the high-fat diet altered collagen patterns (mature versus new collagen) in favor of matrix accumulation. Addition of a high-fat diet caused increased constriction to endothelin-1 (0.1-100 nM), showed impaired vasorelaxation to both acetylcholine (0.1 nM-1 M) and sodium nitroprusside (0.1 nM-1 M), and increased cardiovascular risk factors in diabetes. These results suggest that moderate elevations in blood glucose, as seen in our lean GK model of type 2 diabetes, promote resistance artery remodeling resulting in increased medial thickness, whereas addition of a high-fat diet contributes to diabetic vascular disease predominantly by impairing vascular reactivity in the time frame used for this study. Although differential in their vascular effects, both hyperglycemia and diet-induced dyslipidemia need to be targeted for effective prevention and treatment of diabetic vascular disease.It is estimated that over 23 million Americans are affected by type 2 diabetes. Obesity, insulin resistance, and hypertension often cluster along with type 2 diabetes, resulting in a condition known as metabolic syndrome or syndrome X, thus imposing an enormous task from a therapeutic standpoint (Muhammad, 2004). Although studies with obese Zucker rats (Frisbee, 2003;Stepp et al., 2004;Bouvet et al., 2007) and ob/ob mice (SchÀ fer et al., 2004) provide important evidence about complications of obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, and prediabetes in the systemic microvasculature, the relative contributions of the individual components of metabolic syndrome to diabetes-associated complications cannot be dissected. Furthermore, effects of hyperglycemia and high-fat diet on the structure and mechanics of contractile medial layer are less understood. To define specific targets and develop therapeutic strategies to treat vascular complications, it is very important that the relative contributions of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia to vascular structure and function independent of atherosclerotic changes are well defined. The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat, being a spontaneous model of type 2 diabetes without the presence of comorbid complications, thus offers an excellent opportunity to study the individual role of...