title: Effect of chronic ethanol ingestion and gender on heart left ventricular p53 gene expression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the beneficial effects of mild to moderate ethanol consumption have been implied with respect to heart, alcohol abuse has proven to be a major cause of nonischemic cardiomyopathy in Western society. However, the biochemical and molecular mechanisms, which mediate the pathologic cardiac effects of ethanol, remain largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to explore the effects of chronic ethanol exposure on cardiac apoptosis and expression of some of the genes associated with cardiac remodeling in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Alcohol-avoiding Alko Non Alcohol rats of both sexes were used. The ethanol-exposed rats (females, n=6; males, n=8) were given 12% (v/v) ethanol as the only available fluid from age of three to 24 months of age. The control rats (females, n=7; males, n=5) had only water available. At the end of the experiment, free walls of left ventricles of hearts were immediately frozen. Cytosolic DNA fragmentation, reflecting apoptosis, was measured using a commercial quantitative sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit, and mRNA levels were analyzed using a quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ethanol treatment for two years increased cardiac left ventricular p53 mRNA levels significantly (p=0.014) compared with control rats. The gene expression was also dependent on the gender (p=0.001), so that male rats had higher left ventricular p53 mRNA levels than female rats. However, no significant differences in levels of DNA fragmentation were detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chronic ethanol exposure in vivo induces rat cardiac left ventricular p53 gene expression. Expression of p53 is also gender-dependent, males having higher p53 mRNA levels than females. This preliminary finding suggests a role for the p53 gene in ethanol-induced cardiac remodeling. The results might also have some relevance for the known gender-dependent differences in propensity to cardiovascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jänkälä
authors.forename: Peter C J
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eklund
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarviharju
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Härkönen
authors.forename: Tiina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mäki
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002310:Cardiomyopathy, Alcoholic / Q000235:genetics*; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012737:Sex Factors; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000431:Ethanol