Background— Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is strongly associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Recent studies in obese humans and animals demonstrated increased myocardial oxygen consumption (MV̇o₂) and reduced cardiac efficiency (CE); however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study was performed to determine whether mitochondrial dysfunction and uncoupling are responsible for reduced cardiac performance and efficiency in ob/ob mice.

Methods and Results— Cardiac function, MV̇o₂, mitochondrial respiration, and ATP synthesis were measured in 9-week-old ob/ob and control mouse hearts. Contractile function and MV̇o₂ in glucose-perfused ob/ob hearts were similar to controls under basal conditions but were reduced under high workload. Perfusion of ob/ob hearts with glucose and palmitate increased MV̇o₂ and reduced CE by 23% under basal conditions, and CE remained impaired at high workload. In glucose-perfused ob/ob hearts, mitochondrial state 3 respirations were reduced but ATP/O ratios were unchanged. In contrast, state 3 respiration rates were similar in ob/ob and control mitochondria from hearts perfused with palmitate and glucose, but ATP synthesis rates and ATP/O ratios were significantly reduced in ob/ob, which suggests increased mitochondrial uncoupling. Pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and protein levels of complexes I, III, and V were reduced in obese mice.

Conclusions— These data indicate that reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity may contribute to cardiac dysfunction in ob/ob mice. Moreover, fatty acid but not glucose-induced mitochondrial uncoupling reduces CE in obese mice by limiting ATP production and increasing MV̇o₂.