Expression of classical mediators in hearts of rats with hepatic dysfunction

Abstract

Liver cirrhosis is associated with impairment of cardiovascular function including alterations of the heart innervation, humoral and nervous dysregulation, changes in systemic circulation and electrophysiological abnormalities. Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), enzyme forming acetylcholine, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH), enzymes participating in noradrenaline synthesis, are responsible for the production of classical neurotransmitters, and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is produced by cardiomyocytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of experimentally induced hepatic dysfunction on the expression of proANP, ChAT, TH, and DBH in the heart. Hepatic dysfunction was induced by application of thioacetamide (TAA) or by ligation of bile duct. Biochemical parameters of hepatic injury and levels of peroxidation in the liver and heart were measured. Liver enzymes measured in the plasma were significantly elevated. Cardiac level of peroxidation was increased in operated but not TAA group animals. In the left atrium of operated rats, the expression of TH and DBH was lower, while expression of ChAT remained unchanged. In TAA group, no significant differences in the expression of the genes compared to controls were observed. Liver injury induced by ligation leads to an imbalance in the intracardiac innervation, which might impair nervous control of the heart.

Interplay of Liver–Heart Inflammatory Axis and Cannabinoid 2 Receptor Signaling in an Experimental Model of Hepatic Cardiomyopathy

“…Consequently, there is an increased need for drug therapies to treat liver failure–associated cardiac and vascular complications. Experimental studies on hepatic cardiomyopathy indicated the importance of oxidative/nitrative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, angiotensin signaling, inflammation, and endocannabinoid–CB 1 ‐R signaling in the development of the disease.…”

Substance P Receptor in the Rat Heart and Regulation of Its Expression in Long-Term Diabetes

“…Contaminating DNA was destroyed with 2 U of DNase (Invitrogen Corp., Carlsbad, CA, United States). First-strand cDNA was synthetized from 2 μg of total RNA in a 20 μl reaction mixture containing dithiothreitol, deoxynucleoside triphosphates, random primers, and Superscript RNase H-Reverse Transcriptase III (200 U/onset; Invitrogen Corp.) for 50 min at 42°C as described previously ( Jarkovska et al, 2017 ). Real-time quantitative PCR was done in the I-Cycler (Bio-Rad, Munich, Germany) using primers and SYBR Green PCR kit (Bio-Rad).…”

“…Values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The analysis was performed using the software package STATISTICA Cz, version 7 (StatSoft CR, Prague, Czechia) as mentioned previously ( Jarkovska et al, 2017 ).…”