Endothelin-1 and type III collagen alterations in the heart of rats following cisplatin-induced toxicity

Abstract

Abstract. Cisplatin-induced heart damage is associated with enzymes and protein alterations. The purpose of this study was to investigate cisplatin-induced alterations in cardiac endothelin (ET)-1 and type III collagen following administration of cisplatin. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: a control and a cisplatin group. The cisplatin group received cisplatin intraperitoneally (i.p.) at a single dose of 7 mg/kg on day 6, while the controls were given the same amount of saline via the same route. On day 11, the rats were anesthetized and a thoracotomy was performed on all animals. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to evaluate the protein expression of ET-1 and type III collagen. Sections were analyzed by digital image analysis. Results showed that the cardiac protein expression of ET-1 and type III collagen was altered following cisplatin-induced toxicity in rats. The expression of ET-1 and type III collagen was significantly increased after cisplatin treatment, supported by integrated optical density, when compared to the control group (P<0.05). The present findings indicate that such alterations may be reflected in abnormal cardiac function. Additionally, the proteins identified in this study may benefit investigations into the mechanisms underlying cisplatin-induced toxicity, thereby providing the necessary evidence for further research. IntroductionCisplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent widely used to treat a variety of solid tumors (1,2). It is also an antineoplastic drug that causes an array of adverse effects on various organs and tissues (3). Nephrotoxicity is one of the major side-effects of cisplatin chemotherapy (4) limiting the promising efficacy of cisplatin (5). Cisplatin-based chemotherapy also has a variety of vascular side-effects (6). Acute administration of cisplatin induces nausea/emesis and diarrhea (7). Chronic cisplatin may induce an enteric neuropathy characterized by changes in myenteric neurons associated with marked gastrointestinal motor dysfunction (7). Dysfunction in immune surveillance during anticancer chemotherapy of patients often causes weakness of the host defense system and a subsequent increase in microbial infections (8).Cisplatin-induced toxicity is known to be involved in the changes of antioxidant enzymes (GST, SOD, CAT, GSH-Px and GSH), serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), malondiethylaldehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) (9) and DNA (2,10). However, little is known about the changes in endothelin (ET)-1 and type III collagen expression in the heart following cisplatin-induced toxicity.The present study used immunohistochemical analysis to evaluate the expression of ET-1 and type III collagen in the heart, and to determine whether or not the protein expression is altered with cisplatin-induced toxicity. Materials and methodsAnimals and study design. Sixteen healthy adult male Wistar rats, weighing 210-250 g, were used in this study. The animals were housed individually in stainless-steel wire-bottomed cages in an air-conditione...

Protective Effect ofMomordica charantiaFruit Extract on Hyperglycaemia-Induced Cardiac Fibrosis

“…Type III and type IV collagens are the important components of the extracellular matrix in the heart. Studies have shown that increased expression of type III collagen in the rat model leads to the increase risk of cardiac fibrosis and cardiac failure [ 33 ].…”