Damian J. Tyler1, Vicky Ball1, Lucia Giles1, Carolyn A. Carr1, Kieran Clarke1, Anne-Marie L. Seymour1, 2
1Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom
Cardiac hypertrophy is an independent risk factor associated with heart failure and is characterised by significant metabolic adaptation which may underpin functional deterioration. In this study, we have investigated the relationship between cardiac structure/function and in vivo flux through the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in an experimental model of cardiac hypertrophy caused by abdominal aortic constriction. Four weeks after the surgical induction of aortic constriction, a significant increase in cardiac mass was observed despite no alteration in cardiac function or metabolism. Future work will study the progressive development of cardiac functional and metabolic alterations in this cohort of animals.