Cited by 115Blood Pressure and Hypertension StudiesHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlNeuroscience of respiration and sleep

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 13 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Rapid Onset of Renal Sympathetic Nerve Activation in Rabbits Fed a High-Fat Diet

Abstract

Hypertension and elevated sympathetic drive result from consumption of a high-calorie diet and deposition of abdominal fat, but the etiology and temporal characteristics are unknown. Rabbits instrumented for telemetric recording of arterial pressure and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) were fed a high-fat diet for 3 weeks then control diet for 1 week or control diet for 4 weeks. Baroreflexes and responses to air-jet stress and hypoxia were determined weekly. After 1 week of high-fat diet, caloric intake increased by 62%, accompanied by elevated body weight, blood glucose, plasma insulin, and leptin (8%, 14%, 134%, and 252%, respectively). Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and RSNA also increased after 1 week (6%, 11%, and 57%, respectively). Whereas mean arterial pressure and body weight continued to rise over 3 weeks of high-fat diet, heart rate and RSNA did not change further. The RSNA baroreflex was attenuated from the first week of the diet. Excitatory responses to air-jet stress diminished over 3 weeks of high-fat diet, but responses to hypoxia were invariant. Resumption of a normal diet returned glucose, insulin, leptin, and heart rate to control levels, but body weight, mean arterial pressure, and RSNA remained elevated. In conclusion, elevated sympathetic drive and impaired baroreflex function, which occur within 1 week of consumption of a high-fat, high-calorie diet, appear integral to the rapid development of obesity-related hypertension. Increased plasma leptin and insulin may contribute to the initiation of hypertension but are not required for maintenance of mean arterial pressure, which likely lies in alterations in the response of neurons in the hypothalamus.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In conscious rabbits, a high-fat, high-calorie diet increased renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), heart rate, and mean arterial pressure within 1 week, alongside rapid rises in glucose, insulin, and leptin. Withdrawal of the diet normalized glucose, insulin, leptin, and heart rate, but body weight, mean arterial pressure, and RSNA remained elevated.

Key findings

  • After 1 week of high-fat diet, caloric intake rose by 62%, and body weight, blood glucose, plasma insulin, and leptin increased by 8%, 14%, 134%, and 252%, respectively; mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and RSNA increased by 6%, 11%, and 57%, respectively.
  • Mean arterial pressure and body weight continued to rise over 3 weeks of high-fat diet, whereas heart rate and RSNA did not change further; the RSNA baroreflex was attenuated from week 1, with the lower plateau 92% higher and range 29% lower at week 3, and gain 48% lower at week 3.
  • Excitatory responses to air-jet stress diminished over 3 weeks of high-fat diet (RSNA response −70% at week 3), but responses to hypoxia were invariant.
  • After return to normal diet, glucose, insulin, leptin, and heart rate returned to control levels, but body weight, mean arterial pressure, and RSNA remained elevated; ganglion blockade produced a greater fall in mean arterial pressure in high-fat-diet rabbits (−23±2 mm Hg, n=5) than controls (−13±2 mm Hg, n=4; P group=0.014).

Methods

  • Experiments used 33 male New Zealand white rabbits (body weight 2.6–3.3 kg) instrumented under isoflurane anesthesia with telemetric arterial pressure recording and renal nerve electrodes; after recovery, baseline mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and RSNA were measured.
  • Rabbits were randomized to a normal-fat control diet (n=10) or high-fat diet (n=13) for 3 weeks, then the high-fat group returned to control diet for 1 week; diets were standard rabbit chow (4.2% fat, 2.63 kcal/g) or modified chow (13.3% fat, 3.34 kcal/g).
  • Weekly measurements included responses to air-jet stress and hypoxia, RSNA and heart rate baroreflexes derived from phenylephrine and sodium nitroprusside infusions, blood glucose, plasma insulin and leptin, and at week 3 ganglion blockade with pentolinium; data were analyzed by split-plot repeated-measures ANOVA, one-way ANOVA, and Bonferroni/Greenhouse-Geisser corrections, with P<0.05 significant.

Limitations

  • The paper states that RSNA signal decay after approximately 5 weeks of recording meant only 3 to 4 rabbits per group had viable RSNA at week 4.
  • The paper does not include a dedicated limitations section; evident from the text, some measures used small subsets (caloric intake n=4–5 per group, plasma insulin n=5 per group, plasma leptin n=4 control and 8 high-fat-diet rabbits, RSNA n=8 control and 6 high-fat-diet rabbits through week 3).
  • Evident from the text, the study used only male rabbits and an acute fat-feeding model, and it did not directly establish causality for leptin, insulin, or other proposed mechanisms maintaining elevated mean arterial pressure and RSNA after diet withdrawal.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1161/hypertensionaha.111.190413

Cites

38 of 38 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

61 Own result · 25 Own interpretation · 10 Not checked yet · 4 No basis given

Verify all 13 references — free account

Show all 55 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 34
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 13
45 of 45
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The observed effects of high-fat diet in rabbits are attributable to caloric load rather than high fat content per se.

    “RSNA, HR, MAP, plasma insulin, and plasma leptin increase in the first week of a high-fat, high-calorie diet in conscious rabbits.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Findings in rabbits can be generalized to humans in weight gain and acute dieting cycles.

    “this has implications for cardiovascular health in people who are constantly in a cycle of weight gain and acute dieting to reduce body weight.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The air-jet stress and hypoxia protocols adequately model emotional stress and chemoreflex activation in the context of obesity-related hypertension.

    “Our finding of invariant cardiovascular responses to air-jet stress between HFD and control animals”
    “the MAP, HR, or RSNA response to hypoxia was not different from controls”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The first 3 weeks of HFD in rabbits correspond to the early phase of human obesity-related hypertension.

    “early in the development of obesity-related hypertension”
    “early phase of obesity-related hypertension”
4 of 4

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Citations

Cites

Show all 38 references

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. 10.1016/s0895-7061(98)00231-3 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Armitage, J. A., Burke, S. L., Prior, L. J., Barzel, B., Eikelis, N., Lim, K., & Head, G. A.
Affiliations
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (AU)
Venue
Hypertension
Published
2012-07
Volume
60
Issue
1
Pages
163-171
ISSN
  • 0194-911X (ISSN-L)
  • 1524-4563
OpenAlex
W2097213658
Cited by
115
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 2
FWCI
10.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Hypertension (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Deakin Research Online (Deakin University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
State Government of Victoria
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroscience of respiration and sleep
Keywords
renal sympathetic nerve activity, high-fat diet, obesity-related hypertension, baroreflex sensitivity, hypoxia response, leptin, insulin, energy intake, arterial pressure, heart rate, hypothalamic neurons, dietary fat
MeSH terms
Analysis of Variance, Animals, Blood Glucose, Blood Pressure, Body Weight, Dietary Fats, Heart Rate, Hypertension, Insulin, Kidney, Male, Obesity, Rabbits, Sympathetic Nervous System, Time Factors, Baroreflex, Leptin, Adiposity, Diet, High-Fat

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