Rosemary supplementation (Rosmarinus oficinallis L.) attenuates cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Dietary intervention on adverse cardiac remodeling after MI has significant clinical relevance. Rosemary leaves are a natural product with antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties, but its effect on morphology and ventricular function after MI is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine the effect of the dietary supplementation of rosemary leaves on cardiac remodeling after MI, male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups after sham procedure or experimental induced MI: 1) Sham group fed standard chow (SR0, n = 23); 2) Sham group fed standard chow supplemented with 0.02% rosemary (R002) (SR002, n = 23); 3) Sham group fed standard chow supplemented with 0.2% rosemary (R02) (SR02, n = 22); 4) group submitted to MI and fed standard chow (IR0, n = 13); 5) group submitted to MI and fed standard chow supplemented with R002 (IR002, n = 8); and 6) group submitted to MI and fed standard chow supplemented with R02 (IR02, n = 9). After 3 months of the treatment, systolic pressure evaluation, echocardiography and euthanasia were performed. Left ventricular samples were evaluated for: fibrosis, cytokine levels, apoptosis, energy metabolism enzymes, and oxidative stress. Rosemary dietary supplementation attenuated cardiac remodeling by improving energy metabolism and decreasing oxidative stress. Rosemary supplementation of 0.02% improved diastolic function and reduced hypertrophy after MI. Regarding rosemary dose, 0.02% and 0.2% for rats are equivalent to 11 mg and 110 mg for humans, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings support further investigations of the rosemary use as adjuvant therapy in adverse cardiac remodeling.

Pamidronate Attenuates Oxidative Stress and Energetic Metabolism Changes but Worsens Functional Outcomes in Acute Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Rats.

BACKGROUND: Cardiotoxicity is the major side effect of doxorubicin. As mechanisms that are involved in cardiotoxicity are ambiguous, new methods for attenuating cardiotoxicity are needed. Recent studies have shown that bisphosphonates can decrease oxidative stress. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pamidronate on preventing acute doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. METHODS: Sixty-four male Wistar rats were allocated into four groups: the control group (C), the pamidronate group (P), the doxorubicin group (D) and the doxorubicin/pamidronate group (DP). The rats in the P and DP groups received pamidronate injections (3 mg/kg, IP). After 24 hours, the rats in the D and DP groups received doxorubicin injections (20 mg/kg, IP). Forty-eight hours after doxorubicin injection, the rats were killed. Echocardiography, isolated heart study and biochemical analysis were performed. RESULTS: Doxorubicin-induced acute cardiotoxicity showed increased matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 activation, oxidative damage and induced alterations in myocardial energetic metabolism. Pamidronate did not inhibit MMP-2 activation but attenuated oxidative stress and improved myocardial energetic metabolism. Regarding cardiac function, the DP group exhibited a decrease in the left ventricular ejection fraction in the echocardiography and a decrease in +dP/dt in the isolated heart study compared with other groups. The same DP group presented serum hypocalcaemia. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its ability to reduce oxidative stress and improve energy metabolism in the heart, pamidronate worsened systolic function in rats treated with doxorubicin, and therefore we cannot recommend its use in conjunction with anthracycline chemotherapy.

Vitamin D induces increased systolic arterial pressure via vascular reactivity and mechanical properties.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether supplementation of high doses of cholecalciferol for two months in normotensive rats results in increased systolic arterial pressure and which are the mechanisms involved. Specifically, this study assesses the potential effect on cardiac output as well as the changes in aortic structure and functional properties. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: 1) Control group (C, n = 20), with no supplementation of vitamin D, 2) VD3 (n = 19), supplemented with 3,000 IU vitamin D/kg of chow; 3) VD10 (n = 21), supplemented with 10,000 IU vitamin D/kg of chow. After two months, echocardiographic analyses, measurements of systolic arterial pressure (SAP), vascular reactivity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mechanical properties, histological analysis and metalloproteinase-2 and -9 activity were performed. RESULTS: SAP was higher in VD3 and VD10 than in C rats (p = 0.001). Echocardiographic variables were not different among groups. Responses to phenylephrine in endothelium-denuded aortas was higher in VD3 compared to the C group (p = 0.041). Vascular relaxation induced by acetylcholine (p = 0.023) and sodium nitroprusside (p = 0.005) was impaired in both supplemented groups compared to the C group and apocynin treatment reversed impaired vasodilation. Collagen volume fraction (<0.001) and MMP-2 activity (p = 0.025) was higher in VD10 group compared to the VD3 group. Elastin volume fraction was lower in VD10 than in C and yield point was lower in VD3 than in C. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the view that vitamin D supplementation increases arterial pressure in normotensive rats and this is associated with structural and functional vascular changes, modulated by NADPH oxidase, nitric oxide, and extracellular matrix components.

Influência da suplementação de vitamina D na remodelação ventricular após o infarto do miocárdio / Influence of vitamin D supplementation on ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction

O processo de remodelação cardíaca após o infarto do miocárdio está associado a pior prognóstico. Na fase aguda, a remodelação favorece a formação do aneurisma e predispõe o coração infartado à ruptura ventricular. Cronicamente, está associada com maior prevalência de arritmias malignas e disfunção ventricular, pois a região infartada sofre alterações genéticas, estruturais e bioquímicas que vão resultar em deterioração da capacidade funcional do coração e morte. Portanto, estratégias que atenuam a remodelação resultam em melhora do prognóstico pós-infarto. Evidências recentes sugerem que alterações dos níveis de vitamina D podem resultar em importantes ações cardiovasculares. Adicionalmente, modelos experimentais sugerem que ela poderia modular o processo de remodelação cardíaca. Porém, os efeitos da suplementação de vitamina D sobre o coração após o infarto não são conhecidos. No nosso protocolo, avaliamos os efeitos da suplementação de vitamina D nas alterações morfológicas e funcionais cardíacas após o infarto agudo do miocárdio em ratos, por meio do estudo de alguns dos principais mecanismos envolvidos no processo de remodelação cardíaca: hipertrofia e alterações da geometria ventricular, alterações funcionais, quantidade de colágeno, estresse oxidativo, metabolismo energético, inflamação, apoptose e alterações na distribuição das cadeias pesadas da miosina...

The process of cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction is associated with poor outcome. In the acute phase, remodeling promotes the formation of the aneurysm and predisposes to ventricular rupture. Chronically, it is associated with higher prevalence of malignant arrhythmias and ventricular dysfunction, because the non infarcted region undergoes genetic, structural and biochemical changes which will result in impairment of functional capacity of the heart and death. Therefore, strategies to attenuate remodeling result in improved prognosis after myocardial infarction. Recent evidence suggests that changes in the levels of vitamin D can result in important cardiovascular actions. Additionally, experimental models suggest that it could modulate cardiac remodeling process. However, the effects of vitamin D supplementation on heart after infarction are not known. In our study, we assessed the effects of vitamin D supplementation on cardiac morphological and functional changes after acute myocardial infarction in rats by studying some of the key mechanisms involved in heart remodeling: hypertrophy and changes in ventricular geometry, functional changes, collagen amount, oxidative stress, energy metabolism, inflammation, apoptosis and changes in the distribution of myosin heavy chains. In our results, we found that infarcted animals that received vitamin D supplementation had higher left ventricle systolic and diastolic diameters increased systolic and diastolic areas associated with decreased fractional area change, ejection fraction and posterior wall shortening velocity, decreased systolic blood pressure, increased apoptosis by increasing the expression of proteins caspase 3 and decreased bcl-2, decreased activity of the enzyme phosphofructokinase. There was no interaction between infarct and vitamin D for myosin heavy chains, metalloproteinase activity, oxidative stress, ICAM-1, IL-10 and TIMP...