OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effects of Jiashen Prescription (, JSP) on myocardial infarction (MI) size and cardiac function at the early stage of MI in rats.

METHODSOne hundred male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sham-operation or MI induced by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. The rats with MI were treated with vehicle, JSP 3 and 6 g/(kg·d), or losartan 10 mg/(kg·d) for 1 week.

RESULTSCompared with the vehicle-treated MI rats, 6 g/(kg·d) JSP reduced MI size 3 days after MI (P<0.05), and attenuated the MI-induced increases in left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic dimension and decreases in fractional shortening and ejection fraction 1 week after MI (P<0.05). In addition, 6 g/(kg·d) JSP and losartan were equally effective in reducing MI size and enhancing cardiac functional recovery.

CONCLUSIONJSP reduces MI size and improves cardiac function after MI, suggesting that JSP has potential as a therapy for MI.

Animals ; Body Weight ; Cardiotonic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Heart Function Tests ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Organ Size ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Survival Analysis ; Ultrasonography

The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between left atrial (LA) size and outcome after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and to evaluate dynamic changes in LA size during long-term follow-up. Echocardiographic analyses were performed on 253 AMI patients (174 male and 79 female, 65.4 +/- 13.7 yr) undergoing PCI. These subjects were studied at baseline and at 12 months. Clinical follow-up were done at 30.8 +/- 7.5 months. We assessed LA volume index (LAVI) at AMI-onset and at 12-month. Change of LAVI was an independent predictor of new onset of atrial fibrillation or hospitalization for heart failure (P = 0.002). Subjects who survived the 12-month period displayed an increased LAVI mean of 1.86 +/- 4.01 mL/m2 (from 26.1 +/- 8.6 to 28.0 +/- 10.1 mL/m2, P < 0.001). The subject group that displayed an increased LAVI correlated with a low left ventricular ejection fraction, large left ventricle systolic and diastolic dimensions and an enlarged LA size. In conclusion, change of LAVI is useful parameter to predict subsequent adverse cardiac event in AMI patients. Post-AMI echocardiographic evaluation of LAVI provides important prognostic information that is significantly greater than that obtained from clinical and laboratory parameters alone.
Aged ; *Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria/pathology/physiopathology/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/*pathology/physiopathology/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Prognosis ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The usefulness of global longitudinal peak systolic strain (GLPSS) measurement by automated function imaging (AFI) in the prediction of perfusion status of infarct-related artery (IRA) before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was evaluated. METHODS: Sixty-nine patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who underwent successful primary PCI were divided into two groups; the patients with occlusion of IRA (Group I, 41 patients, 63.0 +/- 14.9 years of age, 31 males) versus the patients with patent IRA (Group II, 28 patients, 63.8 +/- 11.2 years of age, 15 males). GLPSS by AFI and wall-motion score index (WMSI) were analyzed in both groups. RESULTS: GLPSS was significantly decreased in Group I compared with Group II (-11.2 +/- 3.7 vs. -14.1 +/- 4.7%, p = 0.005), but WMSI (1.49 +/- 0.28 vs. 1.35 +/- 0.32, p = 0.062) did not differ between groups. GLPSS of infarct segments was significantly lower (-3.7 +/- 5.4 vs. -11.4 +/- 4.8%, p < 0.001), and WMSI of infarct segments was significantly higher (2.13 +/- 0.57 vs. 1.66 +/- 0.57, p = 0.001) in Group I compared with Group II. By receiver operation curve analysis, the area under the curve to predict IRA occlusion was 0.850 in GLPSS of infarct segments and 0.719 in WMSI of infarct segments. The optimal cut-off value to predict IRA occlusion was -9.4% in GLPSS of infarct segments (sensitivity, 85.4%; specificity, 67.9%) and 1.68 in WMSI of infarct segments (sensitivity, 78.0%; specificity, 60.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggested that GLPSS measured by AFI is a more sensitive predictor of IRA occlusion than is WMSI before PCI. Routine measurement of GLPSS by AFI can be a very useful tool in risk stratification of AMI.
Aged ; Angioplasty, Transluminal, Percutaneous Coronary ; Coronary Circulation ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/*physiopathology/therapy/ultrasonography ; Myocardial Reperfusion ; Systole

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility of therapeutic angiogenesis in myocardial infarction induced by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) mediated by ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction.

METHODSForty Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups after the models of myocardial infarction were established: HGF + ultrasound + microbubble (HGF + US/MB) groups, HGF and ultrasound (HGF + US) group, HGF and microbubble (HGF + MB) group, and surgery alone (SA) group. Ultrasound-targeted destruction microbubble loaded with HGF gene with ECG trigger was performed in HGF + US group. Microbubble loaded with HGF gene was infused intravenously in HGF + MB group, and normal saline were infused in SA group. All rats were killed 14 days after transfection. The CD34 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and microvessel density (MVD) was counted in high power field. The HGF expression on myocardium was detected by ELISA, and the correlation between the contents of HGF and MVD in myocardium was analyzed.

RESULTSIHC results showed that CD34 expressions, shown as brown granules, were located on the membrane and endochylema of vascular endothelial cells. The MVD in HGF + US/MB group [ (266.9 +/- 39.8) /HPF] were highest among all the groups. The contents of HGF in myocardium were highest in HGF + US/MB group [(5.54 +/- 0.81) ng/g], and the contents of HGF in anterior wall were significantly higher than those in posterior wall (P < 0.05); the difference was also significant when compared with others groups (P < 0.01). The correlation analysis showed the contents of HGF was positively correlated with MVD in myocardium.

CONCLUSIONUltrasound-targeted microbubble destruction can effectively deliver HGF into the infracted myocardium and facilitate angiogenesis, which provides a novel way in the gene therapy of myocardial infarction.

Animals ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Microbubbles ; Microvessels ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Myocardial Infarction ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Ultrasonics ; Ultrasonography

The effects of cardiomyocyte grafting on left ventricular (LV) remodeling and function in rats with chronic myocardial infarction were evaluated using high-frequency ultrasound. Chronic myocardial infarction was induced in 50 Wister rats by ligating the left anterior descending artery. They were randomized into two groups: a trial group that received neonatal rat cardiomyocyte transplantation (n=25) and a control group which were given intramyocardial injection of culture medium (n=25). The left ventricular (LV) geometry and function were evaluated by high-frequency ultrasound before and 4 weeks after the cell transplantation. After the final evaluation, all rats were sacrificed for histological study. The results showed that 4 weeks after the cell transplantation, as compared with the control group, the LV end-systolic dimension, end-diastolic dimension, end-systolic volume and end-diastolic volume were significantly decreased and the LV anterior wall end-diastolic thickness, LV ejection fraction and fractional shortening were significantly increased in the trial group (P<0.01). Histological study showed that transplanted neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were found in all host hearts and identified by Brdu staining. It was suggested that transplantation of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes can reverse cardiac remodeling and improve heart function in chronic myocardial infarction rats. High-frequency ultrasound can be used as a reliable technique for the non-invasive evaluation of the effect of cardiomyocyte transplantation.
Animals, Newborn ; Echocardiography/*methods ; Myocardial Infarction/physiopathology ; Myocardial Infarction/*therapy ; Myocardial Infarction/ultrasonography ; Myocytes, Cardiac/*transplantation ; Random Allocation ; Rats, Wistar ; Ventricular Function, Left/*physiology ; Ventricular Remodeling