Figure 1.

Ovariectomy associated with high-fat diet (the OF group) induces weight gain, increase in cardiac weight and increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP). (A) Body weight gain. The body weight gain was measured weekly. The results show an average of each animal group per month. N=12 for each group. (B) This figure shows the results of the heart weight of the animals. After euthanasia, the whole hearts were removed and weighed immediately. The results were normalized by body weight and expressed as gram per 100 grams. N=12 for each group. (C) Cardiomyocyte diameter. For the linear measurements (diameters) of cardiomyocytes, ×400 objective was used. Sixty cells were measured by region in at least ten different fields. As a parameter, the smallest diameter measured in cardiomyocytes is in a line that intersects the nuclei. N=4 for each group. (D) Systolic blood pressure (SBP). The SBP was measured weekly by tail plethysmography, and the results indicate an average of each animal group per month. Measurements were made by tail plethysmography using the electro-sphygmomanometer LE5001. After five minutes of pre-heating at 37°C, the rat tail was placed in contact with a cuff, and a pulse transducer to register data from mean cardiac rate, and mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The mean from five consecutive data each day was used as an individual result. N=8 for each group. SC – sham-operated fed a control diet; OC – ovariectomized fed a control diet; SF – sham-operated fed a high-fat diet; OF – ovariectomized fed a high-fat diet. p<0.05 vs. SC; ^# p<0.05 vs. SC, OC and SF. The results were analyzed by two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s test.