title: Effect of ghrelin and synthetic growth hormone secretagogues in normal and ischemic rat heart.
abstract: Receptors for growth hormone secretagogues have been identified in cardiac tissue, but their functional role is unknown. We have investigated the effect of different growth hormone secretagogues on contractile performance and on the susceptibility to ischemic injury, in isolated working rat hearts. In particular, we tested the endogenous secretagogue ghrelin and the synthetic secretagogues hexarelin and MK-0677. Under aerobic conditions, none of these substances produced any significant hemodynamic effects. In hearts subjected to 30 minutes of ischemia followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion, the synthetic peptidyl secretagogue hexarelin (1 microM) significantly reduced infarct size, as estimated on the basis of triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining, while the non-peptidyl secretagogue MK-0677 was ineffective. The endogenous peptidyl secretagogue ghrelin (20 nM) was also protective, while desacylated ghrelin, which is devoid of biological effects, did not modify ischemic injury. The protection provided by hexarelin was partly abolished by the protein kinase C inhibitor chelerythrine. We conclude that ghrelin and hexarelin have a specific cardioprotective effect, which is independent of growth hormone secretion, and might be related to protein kinase C activation.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Uomo e dell'Ambiente, Sezione di Biochimica, University of Pisa, Via Roma 55, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frascarelli
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghelardoni
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ronca-Testoni
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zucchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D054439:Ghrelin; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007211:Indoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013141:Spiro Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D054439:Ghrelin; D007211:Indoles; D009842:Oligopeptides; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D013141:Spiro Compounds; C086184:hexarelin; D013006:Growth Hormone; C094817:ibutamoren mesylate