POST-WEANING EXPOSURE TO HIGH-SUCROSE DIET LEADS TO EARLY METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION AND CARDIAC REMODELING COMPATIBLE WITH DIABETIC CARDIOMYOPATHY IN RATS

INTRODUCTION: The increasing prevalence of metabolic diseases has been associated to the higher intake of dietary added sugars, particularly fructose and sucrose. Recently, diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) has emerged as a new clinical entity directly associated to metabolic disorders, which quickly progress to heart failure even in absence of classic cardiovascular risk factors. Thus, we hypothesized that the early exposure to a high-sucrose diet (HSD) leads to metabolic disorders and cardiac structural alterations associated with DCM.