Maternal Intake of Flaxseed During Lactation and Exercise Training Protect Against Salt Overload-Induced Aortic Remodeling in Adult Offspring

Abstract

Background: High dietary sodium intake can induce endothelial stiffness even without changes in blood pressure. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of exercise training and chronic intake of sodium chloride solution on aortic morphology of male offspring of rat dams who consumed flaxseed during lactation. Methods: Female rats were fed with a control diet or a flaxseed diet during lactation. At weaning, two male offspring of each rat dam were allocated into eight groups for 180 days: four groups received a control diet e four received a flaxseed diet, with /without exercise and with/without NaCl solution supply. Aorta was collected for histomorphometric analysis. The one-way analysis of variance was used and P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The chronic use of 1% NaCl solution led to changes in aortic histoarchitecture in the control group: increase in aortic intima-media thickness (10,4%, p<0.0001) and reduced number of elastic lamellae (-8,1%, p<0.0001), with preservation of elastic components and aortic flexibility. Conclusion: Chronic salt overload caused adverse effects on the aorta of rats, and maternal consumption of the flaxseed diet during lactation protected against aortic remodeling. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2021; 34(2):124-133)