Oxidative Stress is Not Increased in Male Mice Hearts Fed a High Saturated or High Unsaturated Fat Diet

High fat, low carb diets are becoming increasingly popular in the United States as part of new weight loss strategies. Although research supports short-term weight loss on these diets, much is unknown about the long-term effects. High consumption of fat has been suggested to increase oxidative stress, an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and antioxidants. The purpose of these preliminary studies was to evaluate the effects of three high fat diets on measures of oxidative stress in the hearts of mice. Hearts were obtained from male mice fed a high saturated fat (HSF) or high unsaturated fat (HUF) diet for 12 weeks. Lipid peroxidation, aconitase activity, and protein carbonylation were not significantly different in HSF or HUF hearts as compared to hearts from control mice fed a low-fat diet. Interestingly, protein carbonylation was significantly increased in the hearts of female mice fed a ketogenic diet (KD) for 5 weeks but not in male hearts fed a KD for 6 weeks following 12 weeks of HUF. These findings highlight some potentially important sex differences. Future studies are needed to further investigate whether the KD affects oxidative stress differently in males and females