Attenuation of cardiac failure, dilatation, damage, and detrimental interstitial remodeling without regression of hypertrophy in hypertensive rats.

Whether left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is important in the development of LV failure associated with advanced myocardial damage and detrimental chamber and interstitial remodeling in hypertension has not been established. We examined the effect of an antihypertensive agent without the ability to regress LV hypertrophy on the development of LV changes in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Hydralazine given to SHR from 5.2 to 26 months of age returned systolic blood pressure to Wistar Kyoto (WKY) control values but failed to prevent the increase in LV mass noted in SHR (at 26 months of age: WKY, 0.99+/-0.02 g; untreated SHR, 1.40+/-0.02 g; treated SHR, 1.36+/-0.02 g; P<0.001 in SHR versus WKY). In comparison to both 16-month-old SHR and age-matched WKY, 26-month-old untreated SHR developed signs consistent with heart failure, LV dilatation (an increased LV internal radius), an eccentric LV geometry, advanced myocyte necrosis, an increase in myocardial collagen solubility (an index of decreases in myocardial collagen cross-linking), and marked increases in myocardial total, type III, and non-cross-linked myocardial collagen concentrations. Despite the inability of hydralazine to regress LV hypertrophy, treated SHR did not develop signs of heart failure, myocyte necrosis, decreases in myocardial collagen cross-linking, or increases in myocardial total, type III, and non-cross-linked collagen at 26 months of age. Moreover, treatment attenuated the development of LV dilatation and an eccentric LV geometry. In conclusion, antihypertensive therapy that does not attenuate LV hypertrophy but achieves normal blood pressure in SHR, is able to hinder the development of heart failure associated with advanced myocardial damage and detrimental chamber and interstitial remodeling.

Reduction in myocardial collagen cross-linking parallels left ventricular dilatation in rat models of systolic chamber dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: The transition from compensated left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) to heart failure is associated with alterations in the myocardial interstitium. We hypothesized that LV dilatation is associated with modifications in collagen cross-linking. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 2 rat models of LV dilatation: (1) pressure-overload hypertrophy with heart failure (POH-F) induced by suprarenal abdominal aortic banding and (2) LVH induced by 7 months of isoproterenol (ISO, 0.04 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) administration. In POH-F rats and in rats receiving ISO, LV dilatation and a reduced systolic chamber performance were noted. Myocardial hydroxyproline concentrations ([HPRO]) were increased in the POH-F rats, whereas in rats receiving ISO, [HPRO] was decreased. In POH-F rats, the ratio of myocardial collagen type I to type III was increased, but in rats receiving ISO, myocardial collagen I/III was unchanged. In contrast to the diverse changes in myocardial collagen concentrations and phenotypes observed in the 2 models of LV dilatation, the ratio of myocardial insoluble to soluble (relationship between cross-linked and non-cross-linked) collagen was decreased in both the POH-F and ISO groups. Moreover, administration of captopril (0.22 mmol x kg(-1) x d(-1)), which inhibited the ISO-induced reduction in myocardial insoluble/soluble collagen but not the reduction in [HPRO], prevented the ISO-induced alterations in LV dimensions and performance. CONCLUSIONS: Because decreases in the ratio of myocardial insoluble to soluble collagen parallel LV dilatation in rats, reductions in myocardial collagen cross-linking may be an important mechanism contributing to LV dilatation in heart disease.

Hydrochlorothiazide improves ventricular compliance and thus performance without reducing hypertrophy in renal artery stenosis in rats.

The effect of hydrochlorothiazide (1 mg/kg per day) on left ventricular (LV) mass and systolic and diastolic function was investigated in two-kidney, one clip (2K1C) renovascular hypertensive rats. Hydrochlorothiazide was administered from 8 weeks, and LV mass and function were measured at 16 weeks after surgery to induce hypertension. Cardiac performance was determined from cardiac output, stroke volume (per 100 g of body weight), and stroke work (per gram of LV weight) versus LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and versus LV strain relations in anesthetized open-chest, ventilated rats. LV compliance was determined from the LVEDP versus strain relation. Strain was calculated from LV end-diastolic short-axis diameter values. Hydrochlorothiazide reduced systolic blood pressure in 2K1C rats to levels similar to those in sham-operated controls (sham) at 12 weeks after surgery. A reduced afterload failed to influence LV mass, as left LV hypertrophy developed to the same extent in treated 2K1C rats. 2K1C hypertension produced abnormal cardiac performance with altered cardiac output, stroke volume, and stroke work versus LVEDP relations (stroke work versus LVEDP, intercept of 2K1C versus sham, p < 0.001). This was attributed to a decreased ventricular compliance (strain versus LVEDP, slope of 2K1C versus sham, p < 0.001). In contrast, hydrochlorothiazide improved ventricular compliance (strain versus LVEDP, slope of 2K1C versus 2K1C hydrochlorothiazide, p < 0.01) and thus returned the stroke work versus LVEDP relation to sham values (intercept of 2K1C versus 2K1C hydrochlorothiazide, p < 0.001). We conclude that hydrochlorothiazide reduces blood pressure but not the development of ventricular hypertrophy in 2K1C rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)