Role of obesity and exercise on pericardial fat gene expression (360G-Wellcome-211886_Z_18_Z)

Obesity is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases including heart failure. In obesity, fat is deposited at different sites around the body, but pericardial fat has been shown to have a negative impact on heart function. Very little is known about the function of pericardial fat. Adipose tissue secretes adipokines which in excess impair heart function by significantly increasing the risk of arrhythmias and myocardial infarcts. The purpose of this project is to determine how obesity and exercise regulate the pericardial adipose tissue phenotype, with major implications for the heart. We hypothesise that obesity will alter adipocyte morphology and increase pathological adipokine gene expression. Exercise will reverse the negative phenotype seen in obesity. The hypothesis will be tested using a rat model of obesity and exercise. Adipocyte cellularity will be measured from pericardial adipose tissue sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin from the experimental groups. Additionally, gene expression at the level of the message will be examined using qPCR to determine the adipose tissue phenotype in response to different treatments. This will improve our understanding of how obesity and exercise regulate the pericardial fat phenotype. This has major implications for understanding the negative impact of obesity on heart failure.