Dysfunction of aorta is prevented by whey protein concentrate-80 in venous thrombosis-induced rats

Abstract

A reciprocal association between venous thromboembolism (VTE) and arterial pathologies has been proposed recently. Whey protein concentrate-80 (WPC-80) is known to have beneficial effects on health, especially on the cardiovascular system. Therefore, the potential role of WPC-80 in arterial disease prophylaxis was studied in the model of venous thrombosis in male Wistar rats obtaining WPC-80 (0.3 or 0.5 g/kg body weight) or vehicle for 7, 14 or 21 days. Functional studies of aorta showed that venous thrombosis caused worse aortic relaxation response to acetylcholine, which was prevented by WPC-80 supplementation. WPC-80 also attenuated phenylephrine-induced contraction (in a dose of 0.3 g/kg for 7, 14 and 21 days; and in a dose of 0.5 g/kg for 21 days) in rats with thrombosis. The potential mechanisms may mainly involve nitric oxide as well as prostanoids and potassium channels.

Keywords

• Aortic function
• Endothelial function
• Rat
• Venous thrombosis
• Whey protein concentrate-80