title: Human recombinant relaxin reduces heart injury and improves ventricular performance in a swine model of acute myocardial infarction.
abstract: This study shows that relaxin can be effective in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. In a swine model of heart ischemia-reperfusion currently used to test cardiotropic drugs because of its similarities with human myocardial infarction, human recombinant relaxin (2.5 and 5 microg/kg body weight), given at reperfusion after a 30-min ischemia, markedly reduced the main serum markers of myocardial damage (myoglobin, CK-MB, and troponin T) and the metabolic and histopathologic parameters of myocardial inflammation and cardiomyocyte injury, resulting in overall improvement of ventricular performance (increased cardiac index) compared to the controls. These results provide a background for future clinical trials with human relaxin as adjunctive therapy to catheter-based coronary angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Surgery Unit, Careggi Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Avio-Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Perna
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Masini
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nistri
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bani Sacchi
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bigazzi
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012065:Relaxin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013552:Swine; D016276:Ventricular Function
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012065:Relaxin