ABSTRACT
Objective To assess the effects of fenofibrate on myocardial remodeling in obese rats by echocardiography.Methods Twenty-six SD rats were fed with high fat chow to establish twenty obese rats models,which were randomly divided into two groups:obesity group (OB group,n =10) and fenofibrate group(F group,n =10).The same week-old SD rats group (n =10) was also randomly selected as normal control group.F group was given fenofibrate 60 mg · kg-1 · d-1 for 8 weeks,the other groups were given normal saline.Echocardiographic scan was performed in each group at the beginning and ending of the experiment.Twenty-four weeks later,all rats were executed and the cardiac muscle was used to histological inspect.Results After the experiment,compared with the control group,the body weight,the ventricular thickness,interventricular septal thickness and the left ventricular mass in OB group were significantly increased than those of control group(P ＜0.01),the E/A ratio was significantly decreased(P ＜0.01).Histological detection showed that myocardial structure was disordered,and that interstitial collagen was deposited in the myocardium.Compared with OB group,the parameters all above in F group were significantly improved (P ＜0.01).Left ventricular mass from echocardiography correlated well with the results from pathologic specimen (r =0.98,P ＜0.01).Conclusions Fenofibrate has beneficial effects on preventing myocardial remodeling.By general echocardiography,the effects can be assessed comprehensively and accurately.