Mice ; Animals ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics* ; Cardiomegaly/genetics* ; Signal Transduction ; Cells, Cultured

The study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of nilotinib-loaded biocompatible gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) microneedles patch on cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction(MI), and provide a new clinical perspective of myocardial fibrosis therapies. The GelMA microneedles patches were attached to the epicardial surface of the infarct and peri-infarct zone in order to deliver the anti-fibrosis drug nilotinib on the 10th day after MI, when the scar had matured. Cardiac function and left ventricular remodeling were assessed by such as echocardiography, BNP (brain natriuretic peptide) and the heart weight/body weight ratio (HW/BW). Myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis were examined by WGA (wheat germ agglutinin) staining, HE (hematoxylin-eosin staining) staining and Sirius Red staining. The results showed that the nilotinib-loaded microneedles patch could effectively attenuate fibrosis expansion in the peri-infarct zone and myocardial hypertrophy, prevent adverse ventricular remodeling and finally improve cardiac function. This treatment strategy is a beneficial attempt to correct the cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction, which is expected to become a new strategy to correct the cardiac dysfunction after MI. This is of great clinical significance for improving the long-term prognosis of MI patients.
Humans ; Myocardial Infarction/drug therapy* ; Cardiomegaly ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/therapeutic use* ; Fibrosis ; Myocardium/pathology*

Objective: To investigate the representability and etiological diagnostic value of myocardium samples obtained from patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) by transthoracic echocardiography-guided percutaneous intramyocardial septal biopsy (myocardial biopsy of Liwen procedure). Methods: This study was a retrospective case-series analysis. Patients with HCM, who underwent myocardial biopsy of Liwen procedure and radiofrequency ablation in Xijing Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University from July to December 2019, were included. Demographic data (age, sex), echocardiographic data and complications were collected through electronic medical record system. The histological and echocardiographic features, pathological characteristics of the biopsied myocardium of the patients were analyzed. Results: A total of 21 patients (aged (51.2±14.5) years and 13 males (61.9%)) were enrolled. The thickness of ventricular septum was (23.3±4.5)mm and the left ventricular outflow tract gradient was (78.8±42.6)mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa). Eight patients (38.1%) were complicated with hypertension, 1 patient (4.8%) had diabetes, and 2 patients (9.5%) had atrial fibrillation. Hematoxylin-eosin staining of myocardial samples of HCM patients before radiofrequency ablation evidenced myocytes hypertrophy, myocytes disarray, nuclear hyperchromatism, hypertrophy, atypia, coronary microvessel abnormalities, adipocyte infiltration, inflammatory cell infiltration, cytoplasmic vacuoles, lipofuscin deposition. Interstitial fibrosis and replacement fibrosis were detected in Masson stained biopsy samples. Hematoxylin-eosin staining of myocardial samples of HCM patients after radiofrequency ablation showed significantly reduced myocytes, cracked nuclear in myocytes, coagulative necrosis, border disappearance and nuclear fragmentation. Quantitative analysis of myocardial specimens of HCM patients before radiofrequency ablation showed that there were 9 cases (42.9%) with mild myocardial hypertrophy and 12 cases (57.1%) with severe myocardial hypertrophy. Mild, moderate and severe fibrosis were 5 (23.8%), 9 (42.9%) and 7 (33.3%), respectively. Six cases (28.6%) had myocytes disarray. There were 11 cases (52.4%) of coronary microvessel abnormalities, 4 cases (19.0%) of adipocyte infiltration, 2 cases (9.5%) of inflammatory cell infiltration,6 cases (28.5%) of cytoplasmic vacuole, 16 cases (76.2%) of lipofuscin deposition. The diameter of cardiac myocytes was (25.2±2.8)μm, and the percentage of collagen fiber area was 5.2%(3.0%, 14.6%). One patient had severe replacement fibrosis in the myocardium, with a fibrotic area of 67.0%. The rest of the patients had interstitial fibrosis. The myocardial specimens of 13 patients were examined by transmission electron microscopy. All showed increased myofibrils, and 9 cases had disorder of myofibrils. All patients had irregular shape of myocardial nucleus, partial depression, mild mitochondrial swelling, fracture and reduction of mitochondrial crest, and local aggregation of myofibrillary interfascicles. One patient had hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes, but the arrangement of muscle fibers was roughly normal. There were vacuoles in the cytoplasm, and Periodic acid-Schiff staining was positive. Transmission electron microscopy showed large range of glycogen deposition in the cytoplasm, with occasional double membrane surround, which was highly indicative of glycogen storage disease. No deposition of glycolipid substance in lysozyme was observed under transmission electron microscope in all myocardial specimens, which could basically eliminate Fabry disease. No apple green substance was found under polarized light after Congo red staining, which could basically exclude cardiac amyloidosis. Conclusion: Myocardium biopsied samples obtained by Liwen procedure of HCM patients are representative and helpful for the etiological diagnosis of HCM.
Biopsy/adverse effects* ; Cardiomegaly/pathology* ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/diagnosis* ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Fibrosis ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Lipofuscin ; Male ; Myocardium/pathology* ; Retrospective Studies

To investigate the effects of leonurine(Leo) on abdominal aortic constriction(AAC)-induced cardiac hypertrophy in rats and its mechanism. A rat model of pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy was established by AAC method. After 27-d intervention with high-dose(30 mg·kg~(-1)) and low-dose(15 mg·kg~(-1)) Leo or positive control drug losartan(5 mg·kg~(-1)), the cardiac function was evaluated by hemodynamic method, followed by the recording of left ventricular systolic pressure(LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure(LVESP), as well as the maximum rate of increase and decrease in left ventricular pressure(±dp/dt_(max)). The degree of left ventricular hypertrophy was assessed based on heart weight index(HWI) and left ventricular mass index(LVWI). Myocardial tissue changes and the myocardial cell diameter(MD) were measured after hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining. The contents of angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ) and angiotensin Ⅱ type 1 receptor(AT1 R) in myocardial tissue were detected by ELISA. The level of Ca~(2+) in myocardial tissue was determined by colorimetry. The protein expression levels of phospholipase C(PLC), inositol triphosphate(IP3), AngⅡ, and AT1 R were assayed by Western blot. Real-time quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR) was employed to determine the mRNA expression levels of β-myosin heavy chain(β-MHC), atrial natriuretic factor(ANF), AngⅡ, and AT1 R. Compared with the model group, Leo decreased the LVSP, LVEDP, HWI, LVWI and MD values, but increased ±dp/dt_(max) of the left ventricle. Meanwhile, it improved the pathological morphology of myocardial tissue, reduced cardiac hypertrophy, edema, and inflammatory cell infiltration, decreased the protein expression levels of PLC, IP3, AngⅡ, AT1 R, as well as the mRNA expression levels of β-MHC, ANF, AngⅡ, AT1 R, c-fos, and c-Myc in myocardial tissue. Leo inhibited AAC-induced cardiac hypertrophy possibly by influencing the RAS system.
Angiotensin II/metabolism* ; Animals ; Cardiomegaly/genetics* ; Gallic Acid/analogs & derivatives* ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/pathology* ; Myocardium/pathology* ; Rats

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of fucoxanthin (FX) against diabetic cardiomyopathy and explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Rat models of diabetes mellitus (DM) induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg) were randomized into DM model group, fucoxanthin treatment (DM+FX) group and metformin treatment (DM+ Met) group, and normal rats with normal feeding served as the control group. In the two treatment groups, fucoxanthin and metformin were administered after modeling by gavage at the daily dose of 200 mg/kg and 230 mg/kg, respectively for 12 weeks, and the rats in the DM model group were given saline only. HE staining was used to examine the area of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy in each group. The expression levels of fibrotic proteins TGF-β1 and FN proteins in rat hearts were detected with Western blotting. In the cell experiment, the effect of 1 μmol/L FX on H9C2 cell hypertrophy induced by exposure to high glucose (HG, 45 mmol/L) was evaluated using FITC-labeled phalloidin. The mRNA expression levels of the hypertrophic factors ANP, BNP and β-MHC in H9C2 cells were detected using qRT-PCR. The protein expressions of Nrf2, Keap1, HO-1 and SOD1 proteins in rat heart tissues and H9C2 cells were determined using Western blotting. The DCFH-DA probe was used to detect the intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). RESULTS: In the diabetic rats, fucoxanthin treatment obviously alleviated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis, increased the protein expressions of Nrf2 and HO-1, and decreased the protein expressions of Keap1 in the heart tissue (P < 0.05). In H9C2 cells with HG exposure, fucoxanthin significantly inhibited the enlargement of cell surface area, lowered the mRNA expression levels of ANP, BNP and β-MHC (P < 0.05), promoted Nrf2 translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, and up-regulated the protein expressions its downstream targets SOD1 and HO-1 (P < 0.05) to enhance cellular antioxidant capacity and reduce intracellular ROS production. CONCLUSION Fucoxanthin possesses strong inhibitory activities against diabetic cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis and is capable of up-regulating Nrf2 signaling to promote the expression of its downstream antioxidant proteins SOD1 and HO-1 to reduce the level of ROS.
Animals ; Antioxidants/metabolism* ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor/pharmacology* ; Cardiomegaly ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/metabolism* ; Fibrosis ; Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1/metabolism* ; Metformin ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/metabolism* ; Oxidative Stress ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Superoxide Dismutase-1/pharmacology* ; Xanthophylls

Cardiac hypertrophy is a common pathological process of various cardiovascular diseases and eventually develops into heart failure. This paper was aimed to study the different pathological characteristics exhibited by different mouse strains after hypertrophy stimulation. Two mouse strains, A/J and FVB/nJ, were treated with isoproterenol (ISO) by osmotic pump to induce cardiac hypertrophy. Echocardiography was performed to monitor heart morphology and function. Mitochondria were isolated from hearts in each group, and oxidative phosphorylation function was assayed in vitro. The results showed that both strains showed a compensatory enhancement of heart contractile function after 1-week ISO treatment. The A/J mice, but not the FVB/nJ mice, developed significant cardiac hypertrophy after 3-week ISO treatment as evidenced by increases in left ventricular posterior wall thickness, heart weight/body weight ratio, cross sectional area of cardiomyocytes and cardiac hypertrophic markers. Interestingly, the heart from A/J mice contained higher mitochondrial DNA copy number compared with that from FVB/nJ mice. Functionally, the mitochondria from A/J mice displayed faster O
Animals ; Cardiomegaly/chemically induced* ; Heart Failure ; Isoproterenol/toxicity* ; Mice ; Mitochondria ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism*

Animals ; Cardiomegaly ; Constriction ; Heart ; Mice

The present study investigated the effects of chikusetsu saponin Ⅳa(CHS Ⅳa) on isoproterenol(ISO)-induced myocardial hypertrophy in rats and explored the underlying molecular mechanism. ISO was applied to establish a rat model of myocardial hypertrophy, and CHS Ⅳa(5 and 15 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)) was used for intervention. The tail artery blood pressure was measured. Cardiac ultrasound examination was performed. The ratio of heart weight to body weight(HW/BW) was calculated. Morphological changes in the myocardial tissue were observed by HE staining. Collagen deposition in the myocardial tissue was observed by Masson staining. The mRNA expression of myocardial hypertrophy indicators(ANP and BNP), autophagy-related genes(Atg5, P62 and beclin1), and miR199 a-5 p was detected by qRT-PCR. Atg5 protein expression was detected by Western blot. The results showed that the model group exhibited increased tail artery blood pressure and HW/BW ratio, thickened left ventricular myocardium, enlarged myocardial cells, disordered myocardial fibers with widened interstitium, and a large amount of collagen aggregating around the extracellular matrix and blood vessels. ANP and BNP were largely expressed. Moreover, P62 expression was up-regulated, while beclin1 expression was down-regulated. After intervention by CHS Ⅳa at different doses, myocardial hypertrophy was ameliorated and autophagy activity in the myocardial tissue was enhanced. Meanwhile, miR199 a-5 p expression declined and Atg5 expression increased. As predicted by bioinformatics, Atg5 was a target gene of miR199 a-5 p. CHS Ⅳa was capable of preventing myocardial hypertrophy by regulating autophagy of myocardial cells through the miR-199 a-5 p/Atg5 signaling pathway.
Animals ; Cardiomegaly/genetics* ; Isoproterenol ; Myocardium ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Oleanolic Acid/analogs & derivatives* ; Rats ; Saponins/pharmacology*

This study aimed to explore the role of miR-130a-3p in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and its underlying mechanisms. Pressure-overload induced myocardial hypertrophy mice model was constructed by thoracic aortic constriction (TAC). , norepinephrine (NE) was used to stimulate neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) and H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes to induce hypertrophic phenotypes. The expression of miR-130a-3p was detected in mice hypertrophic myocardium, hypertrophic NRCMs and H9c2 cells. The mimics and inhibitors of miR-130a-3p were transfected into H9c2 cells to observe the role of miR-130a-3p on the hypertrophic phenotype change of cardiomyocytes separately. Furthermore, whether miR-130a-3p regulated hypertrophic related signaling pathways was explored. The results showed that the expression of miR-130a-3p was significantly decreased in hypertrophic myocardium, hypertrophic NRCMs and H9c2 cells. After transfection of miR-130a-3p mimics, the expression of hypertrophic marker genes, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and β-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC), and the cell surface area were notably down-regulated compared with the control group (mimics N.C. + NE group). But after transfection of miR-130a-3p inhibitor, the expression of ANP, BNP and β-MHC in H9c2 cells increased significantly, and the cell area increased further. By Western blot, it was found that the protein phosphorylation level of Akt and mTOR were down-regulated after over-expression of miR-130a-3p. These results suggest that miR-130a-3p mimics may alleviate the degree of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, meanwhile its inhibitor can further aggravate cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Over-expression of miR-130a-3p may attenuate cardiomyocytes hypertrophy by affecting the Akt pathway.
Animals ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; Cardiomegaly ; Mice ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; pathology ; Myosin Heavy Chains ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Nonmuscle Myosin Type IIB ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Rats

The transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) family. TAK1 plays important roles in many biological functions. Cardiac hypertrophy can be identified as physiological or pathological myocardial hypertrophy. TAK1 not only participates in the development of normal myocardium, but also plays an important role in regulating the occurrence and development of pathological myocardial hypertrophy. Angiotensin II (Ang II) or pressure overload induces pathological cardiac hypertrophy through different ways, such as hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)-mediated transcriptional expression of TAK1, or transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-, thyroid hormone-, ubiquitin protease-mediated TAK1 phosphorylation or ubiquitination. This article reviews the role of TAK1 in the occurrence and development of pathological myocardial hypertrophy and discusses the potential of TAK1 as an important target for the prevention and treatment of clinical myocardial hypertrophy.
Cardiomegaly ; Humans ; MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases ; genetics ; Myocardium ; Phosphorylation ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1