Non-invasive Blood Pressure Monitoring

BP was measured by a tail-cuff system (CODA Monitor; Kent Scientific Corporation, Torrington, CT, USA) essentially as described previously^{8 (link)}. Briefly, at the same time each morning, BP was recorded for 5 acclimation cycles followed by 30–35 measurement cycles. The three highest and lowest readings were removed and an average of the remaining recordings used to calculate the daily BP. An average of 3 days was used to calculate the BP at day 0 before the diet was changed, and an average of BP at post-diet days 13, 14, and 16 used to calculate the final BP. Heating pads were used to keep the mice warm throughout the experiment to ensure sufficient blood flow to the tail.