Protein profiling in cardiac tissue in response to the chronic effects of alcohol

Abstract

An investigation was made into cardiac protein levels after chronic ethanol consumption to examine whether specific proteins are affected by alcohol. Ethanol was administered for six weeks to male Wistar rats which were fed a nutritionally complete liquid diet containing 35% of total calories as ethanol. Controls were pair-fed identical amounts of the same diet in which ethanol was replaced by isocaloric glucose; thus both groups had identical nutritional intakes, albeit differences in ethanol or carbohydrate. After six weeks' feeding, cardiac tissue was removed and analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis, where equal amounts of proteins were studied. Protein patterns were analyzed by computerized densitometry and characterized by comparison with a database of known cardiac proteins. Chronic alcohol feeding caused significant decreases in the relative amounts of various proteins, including several tentatively identified as heat shock protein (HSP) 60, HSP70, and desmin. The relative proportions of actin, vimentin, myosin light chain 1, myosin light chain 2, and albumin, remained unchanged. Examination of antibodies raised against HSP65 showed no overt differences in plasma levels following chronic alcohol consumption, and liver changes as assessed by histology were mild. In conclusion, chronic alcohol appears to have selective effects on particular proteins, and the effects were not directly ascribed to overt liver dysfunction or malnutrition. This may explain some of the functional and morphological characteristics observed in alcohol-induced heart muscle disease, including reduced contractility.

Oxidants antioxidants and alcohol implications for skeletal and cardiac muscle

“…Various mechanisms have been proposed to account for the changes in the heart muscle in alcoholism, including changes in the synthesis of contractile proteins (25,(42)(43)(44)(45) and the induction of autoantibodies due to the formation of acetaldehyde-protein adducts (46). The involvement of lipid peroxidation and hence free radical mediated damage has also been hypothesized in the pathogenesis of ACM.…”

Nutritional effects of alcoholism

“…Animal studies suggest that only 10% of approximately 400 cardiac proteins are reduced by alcohol usage, with heat shock proteins (HSP) being among those reduced [15]. This might be particularly important because HSP are both cardioprotective and involved in protein translocation and folding.…”

Proteomics of the Heart

“…Proteomic analysis of these models has generally focused on changes in cardiac proteins in response to alcohol 130,131 and lead 132 toxicity.…”