Transcriptional profiles in the chicken ductus arteriosus during hatching.

The ductus arteriosus, an essential embryonic blood vessel between the pulmonary artery and the descending aorta, constricts after birth or hatching and eventually closes to terminate embryonic circulation. Chicken embryos have two long ductus arteriosi, which anatomically differ from mammal ductus arteriosus. Each long ductus arteriosus is divided into two parts: the pulmonary artery-sided and descending aorta-sided ductus arteriosi. Although the pulmonary artery-sided and descending aorta-sided ductus arteriosi have distinct functional characteristics, such as oxygen responsiveness, the difference in their transcriptional profiles has not been investigated. We performed a DNA microarray analysis (GSE 120116 at NCBI GEO) with pooled tissues from the chicken pulmonary artery-sided ductus arteriosus, descending aorta-sided ductus arteriosus, and aorta at the internal pipping stage. Although several known ductus arteriosus-dominant genes such as tfap2b were highly expressed in the pulmonary artery-sided ductus arteriosus, we newly found genes that were dominantly expressed in the chicken pulmonary artery-sided ductus arteriosus. Interestingly, cluster analysis showed that the expression pattern of the pulmonary artery-sided ductus arteriosus was closer to that of the descending aorta-sided ductus arteriosus than that of the aorta, whereas the morphology of the descending aorta-sided ductus arteriosus was closer to that of the aorta than that of the pulmonary artery-sided ductus arteriosus. Subsequent pathway analysis with DAVID bioinformatics resources revealed that the pulmonary artery-sided ductus arteriosus showed enhanced expression of the genes involved in melanogenesis and tyrosine metabolism compared with the descending aorta-sided ductus arteriosus, suggesting that tyrosinase and the related genes play an important role in the proper differentiation of neural crest-derived cells during vascular remodeling in the ductus arteriosus. In conclusion, the transcription profiles of the chicken ductus arteriosus provide new insights for investigating the mechanism of ductus arteriosus closure.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase activation precedes the down-regulation of fatty acid oxidation in monocrotaline-induced myocardial toxicity in mice.

Fatty acid (FA) oxidation is impaired and glycolysis is promoted in the damaged heart. However, the factor(s) in the early stages of myocardial metabolic impairment remain(s) unclear. C57B6 mice were subcutaneously administered monocrotaline (MCT) in doses of 0.3 mg/g body weight twice a week for 3 or 6 weeks. Right and left ventricles at 3 and 6 weeks after administration were subjected to capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry metabolomic analysis. We also examined mRNA and protein levels of key metabolic molecules. Although no evidence of PH and right ventricular failure was found in the MCT-administered mice by echocardiographic and histological analyzes, the expression levels of stress markers such as TNFα and IL-6 were increased in right and left ventricles even at 3 weeks, suggesting that there was myocardial damage. Metabolites in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were decreased and those in glycolysis were increased at 6 weeks. The expression levels of FA oxidation-related factors were decreased at 6 weeks. The phosphorylation level of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) was significantly decreased at 3 weeks. FA oxidation and the TCA cycle were down-regulated, whereas glycolysis was partially up-regulated by MCT-induced myocardial damage. PDH activation preceded these alterations, suggesting that PDH activation is one of the earliest events to compensate for a subtle metabolic impairment from myocardial damage.

Tissue thrombin is associated with the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Thrombin is a serine protease known to be the final product of the coagulation cascade. However, thrombin plays other physiological roles in processes such as gastric contractions and vessel wound healing, and a state of coagulability is increased in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In this study, we investigate the role of thrombin in the pathogenesis of DCM. The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of thrombin in the pathogenesis of DCM and investigate the possibility of treatment against DCM by thrombin inhibition. METHODS: We investigated the expression of thrombin in the left ventricles of five patients with DCM who underwent the Batista operation and four patients without heart disease. Furthermore, we investigated the involvement of thrombin in the development of DCM using knock-in mice with a deletion mutation of cardiac troponin T that causes human DCM (∆K210 knock-in mouse) (B6;129-Tnnt2tm2Mmto) and assessed the effects of a direct thrombin inhibitor, dabigatran on ∆K210 knock-in mice using echocardiographic examinations, the Kaplan-Meier method and Western blotting. RESULTS: The immunohistochemical analysis showed a strong thrombin expression in the DCM patients compared to the patients without heart disease. In immunohistochemical analysis, a strong thrombin expression was observed in the heart tissues analysis in the ∆K210 knock-in mice. Dabigatran administration significantly improved fractional shortening according to the echocardiographic examination and the survival outcomes in ∆K210 knock-in mice. CONCLUSION: Tissue thrombin is involved in the pathogenesis of DCM and thrombin inhibition can be beneficial for the treatment of DCM.

Low Cardiac Output Leads Hepatic Fibrosis in Right Heart Failure Model Rats.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic fibrosis progresses with right heart failure, and becomes cardiac cirrhosis in a severe case. Although its causal factor still remains unclear. Here we evaluated the progression of hepatic fibrosis using a pulmonary artery banding (PAB)-induced right heart failure model and investigated whether cardiac output (CO) is responsible for the progression of hepatic fibrosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Five-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats divided into the PAB and sham-operated control groups. After 4 weeks from operation, we measured CO by echocardiography, and hepatic fibrosis ratio by pathological examination using a color analyzer. In the PAB group, CO was significantly lower by 48% than that in the control group (78.2±27.6 and 150.1±31.2 ml/min, P<0.01). Hepatic fibrosis ratio and serum hyaluronic acid, an index of hepatic fibrosis, were significantly increased in the PAB group than those in the control group (7.8±1.7 and 1.0±0.2%, P<0.01, 76.2±27.5 and 32.7±7.5 ng/ml, P<0.01). Notably, the degree of hepatic fibrosis significantly correlated a decrease in CO. Immunohistological analysis revealed that hepatic stellate cells were markedly activated in hypoxic areas, and HIF-1α positive hepatic cells were increased in the PAB group. Furthermore, by real-time PCR analyses, transcripts of profibrotic and fibrotic factors (TGF-ß1, CTGF, procollargen I, procollargen III, MMP 2, MMP 9, TIMP 1, TIMP 2) were significantly increased in the PAB group. In addition, western blot analyses revealed that the protein level of HIF-1α was significantly increased in the PAB group than that in the control group (2.31±0.84 and 1.0±0.18 arbitrary units, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that low CO and tissue hypoxia were responsible for hepatic fibrosis in right failure heart model rats.

Lipopolysaccharide Delays Closure of the Rat Ductus Arteriosus by Induction of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase But Not Prostaglandin E2.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of patent ductus arteriosus is known to be higher in premature neonates with infection than in those without infection. However, the detailed mechanism has not been investigated. METHODS AND RESULTS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 100 µg/kg) was injected into timed-pregnant Wistar rats on day 18 and 19 of pregnancy. The fetuses were delivered by cesarean section on gestational day 21. Using a rapid whole-body freezing method, it was found that closure of the ductus arteriosus (DA) was significantly delayed in neonates from LPS-injected rats after birth. Histological analysis demonstrated that there was no difference in vascular remodeling of the DA. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the tumor necrosis factor α and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression level was significantly increased, but there was no difference in cyclooxygenase 2 and prostaglandin receptor, EP4, mRNA expression in the DA from LPS-injected rats. Moreover, the NOS inhibitor,Nω-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride, significantly prevented the delayed closure of the DA after birth in neonates from LPS-injected rats. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that LPS-mediated infection delayed closure of the rat DA without apparent histological changes. iNOS, but not prostaglandin E2, may play a primary role in delayed functional closure of the DA. (Circ J 2016; 80: 703-711).

Magnetocardiograms early detection of pulmonary arterial hypertension using inverse problem analysis in rat model.

Utilizing small animal magnetocardiograms (MCG), we have developed a diagnostic method to detect the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in a rat heart. We obtained multiple MCG of rats with monocrotaline-induced PH and monitored the development of pathophysiological conditions. Current dipole estimation was then applied to determine the association between abnormal propagation of the cardiac excited wavefront and disease states. The progress of right ventricular hypertrophy correlated with a decrease in the angles of the current dipoles during R and S waves. In addition, clear changes in the current dipole angles during S waves were observed 9-19 days before the availability of echocardiographic diagnosis of the PH. Our results showed, using a rat PH model, that continuous monitoring of myocardial conditions allows PH to be detected at an earlier stage than echocardiographic screening.

Transcription profiles of the ductus arteriosus in Brown-Norway rats with irregular elastic fiber formation.

BACKGROUND: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is one of the most common congenital cardiovascular defects in children. The Brown-Norway (BN) inbred rat presents a higher frequency of PDA. A previous study reported that 2 different quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 8 and 9 were significantly linked to PDA in this strain. Nevertheless, the genetic or molecular mechanisms underlying PDA phenotypes in BN rats have not been fully investigated yet. METHODS AND RESULTS: It was found that the elastic fibers were abundant in the subendothelial area but scarce in the media even in the closed ductus arteriosus (DA) of full-term BN neonates. DNA microarray analysis identified 52 upregulated genes (fold difference >2.5) and 23 downregulated genes (fold difference <0.4) when compared with those of F344 control neonates. Among these genes, 8 (Tbx20, Scn3b, Stac, Sphkap, Trpm8, Rup2, Slc37a2, and RGD1561216) are located in chromosomes 8 and 9. Interestingly, it was also suggested that the significant decrease in the expression levels of the PGE2-specfic receptor, EP4, plays a critical role in elastogenesis in the DA. CONCLUSIONS: BN rats exhibited dysregulation of elastogenesis in the DA. DNA microarray analysis identified the candidate genes including EP4 involved in the DNA phenotype. Further investigation of these newly identified genes will hopefully clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the irregular formation of elastic fibers in PDA.

Imaging of aortico-left ventricular tunnel by three-dimensional echocardiography.

Aortico-left ventricular tunnel (ALVT) is a rare congenital heart disease presenting as congestive heart failure in the neonatal or early infantile period due to severe aortic regurgitation (AR). We presented a 1-month-old boy with ALVT, originally diagnosed by two-dimensional echocardiography; however, the detailed anatomical features were not ascertained. Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) could provide clear images of the three-dimensional structures of ALVT, just the same as those of surgical findings. ALVT originated from the left coronary cusp and ran an oblique path to the subvalvular orifice, having a narrow segment in the middle. RT3DE is a clinically useful diagnostic tool to clarify the detailed anatomy of ALVT.