Tachycardia-induced primate model of heart failure in cardiovascular drug discovery.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a complex, multifactoral disease involving genetic and environmental factors that represents a large unmet medical need. There are currently many animal models of CHF that have provided some insight into the etiology of this disease. However, due to the complex interactions of environmental and genetic components of this disease most animal models are somewhat limited. Nonhuman primates offer a unique opportunity to investigate the genetic aspects of this complex disease due to their close genetic and phenotypic similarity to humans. Here we describe a novel tachycardia-induced primate model of CHF characterized by depressed global function that progresses to a symptomatic stage consistent with clinical data. No animal model, including this one, can exactly mimic the clinical pathophysiology of CHF. However, this tachycardia-induced primate model of CHF has similarities to the dynamic state of CHF in humans and affords the opportunity to evaluate changes in gene expression using genomic and proteomic technologies throughout the progression of the disease.

NO modulates myocardial O2 consumption in the nonhuman primate: an additional mechanism of action of amlodipine.

Recent evidence from our laboratory and others suggests that nitric oxide (NO) is a modulator of in vivo and in vitro oxygen consumption in the murine and canine heart. Therefore, the goal of our study was twofold: to determine whether NO modulates myocardial oxygen consumption in the nonhuman primate heart in vitro and to evaluate whether the seemingly cardioprotective actions of amlodipine may involve an NO-mediated mechanism. Using a Clark-type O2 electrode, we measured oxygen consumption in cynomologous monkey heart at baseline and after increasing doses of S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP; 10(-7)-10(-4) M), bradykinin (10(-7)-10(-4) M), ramiprilat (10(-7)-10(-4) M), and amlodipine (10(-7)-10(-5) M). SNAP (-38 +/- 5.8%), bradykinin (-19 +/- 3.9%), ramiprilat (-28 +/- 2.3%), and amlodipine (-23 +/- 4.5%) each caused significant (P < 0.05) reductions in myocardial oxygen consumption at their highest dose. Preincubation of tissue with nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (10(-4) M) blunted the effects of bradykinin (-5.4 +/- 3.2%), ramiprilat (-4.8 +/- 5.0%), and amlodipine (-5.3 +/- 5.0%) but had no effect on the tissue response to SNAP (-38 +/- 5.8%). Our results indicate that NO can reduce oxygen consumption in the primate myocardium in vitro, and they support a role for the calcium-channel blocker amlodipine as a modulator of myocardial oxygen consumption via a kinin-NO mediated mechanism.

Cardiovascular effects of CP-96,345, a non-peptide blocker of tachykinin NK1 receptors.

CP-96,345, a non-peptide, selective tachykinin NK1 receptor blocker and its inactive enantiomer, CP-96,344, inhibit ligand binding of phenylalkylamine but not dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel antagonists. Whether these Ca2+ channel antagonist properties of CP-96,345 and CP-96,344 can be expressed as cardiovascular effects in vitro and in vivo is unknown. The cardiovascular effects of CP-96,345 and CP-96,344 in isolated vascular smooth muscle and in anesthetized dogs were compared to those of verapamil and nifedipine, phenylalkylamine and dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel antagonists, respectively. CP-96,345, CP-96,344, verapamil and nifedipine inhibited Ca(2+)-induced contractions in rat isolated portal vein with pD2' values of 5.9, 5.8, 6.8 and 8.1, respectively. In closed chest, anesthetized, spinal-pithed dogs, CP-96,345 caused dose-related hypotension and depressed heart rate. In open chest, anesthetized beagles at equihypotensive doses, CP-96,345, 1 mg/kg, CP-96,344, 1 mg/kg and verapamil, 0.5 mg/kg caused significant negative chronotropic, dromotropic and inotropic effects that were not observed with nifedipine, 0.01 mg/kg or nitroglycerin, 0.02 mg/kg. We conclude that the cardiovascular effects of CP-96,345 and its isomer are due to 'verapamil-like' Ca2+ channel antagonism and are not related to blockade of NK1 receptors.