Janusz H. Hankiewicz1, Natasha H. Banke1, E. Douglas Lewandowski1
1Program in Integrative Cardiac Metabolism, UIC College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Myocardial lipid content and 2D strains in the epi- and endocardium of the LV were determined, over a two week period of high fat diet, in non-transgenic mice (NTG) and a transgenic mouse model of increased myocardial lipid due to cardiac-specific overexpression of the proxisome proliferators activated nuclear receptor α (PPAR α). High-resolution cardiac tagging revealed that high fat diet reduced endocardial E1 and E2 strains in PPAR α hearts, while 1H MRS showed a 130% greater lipid content in than NTG hearts. Close correlations between lipid content and 2D strains indicate increased myocardial stiffness is a consequence of elevated myocardial lipid.