Figure 4.

3,3-Dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB) prevents Western-style diet (WD)-induced increases in aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) by improving the functional, but not structural, component of aortic stiffness. In young mice fed either a standard chow (SC) or WD and administered either normal drinking water (control; SC-C, WD-C) or water supplemented with 1% DMB (SC-DMB, WD-DMB) for 8–10 wk: aPWV across the 8-wk intervention (A), aortic elastic modulus, a measure of intrinsic mechanical (wall) stiffness (B), and the relation between changes in aPWV from baseline to 8 wk of the intervention vs. peak endothelium-dependent dilation (EDD) to acetylcholine in isolated carotid arteries (C). n = 11–13 mice/group. Data are means ± SE. There were no statistical outliers. Statistics for A are two-way mixed (group × time) ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test: *P < 0.05 vs. SC-C within time point. ^bP < 0.07 vs. WD-C within time point. ‡P < 0.05 vs. baseline within group. Two-way diet × treatment ANOVA at 8 wk showed similar differences (diet effect: P < 0.01; treatment effect: P = 0.04; SC-C vs. WD-C: P = 0.02; WD-C vs. WD-DMB: P < 0.001).