Elevated expression of urotensin II and its receptor in diabetic cardiomyopathy.
OBJECTIVE
Urotensin II (UII) is a somatostatin-like peptide recently identified to have several cardiovascular effects, including potent vasoactive, cardiac inotropic and chronotropic properties. Our aim was to determine the degree of expression of UII and UII receptor (UT) in the myocardium of rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes.


METHODS
Real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry were used to determine the degree of expression and location of UII and UT in the myocardium of STZ-induced diabetic rats.


RESULTS
UII and UT expression were significantly enhanced in the myocardium of rats with diabetes compared with healthy controls on both messenger RNA and protein levels. Both UII and UT protein expression were mainly concentrated in the cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, cardiac fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest a possible role for the UII/UT system in the pathophysiology of DCM.
Dai
Hong-Yan
HY
Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Ministry of Public Health, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Guo
Xin-Gui
XG
Ge
Zhi-Ming
ZM
Li
Zhen-Hua
ZH
Yu
Xiao-Jing
XJ
Tang
Meng-Xiong
MX
Zhang
Yun
Y
D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000235:genetics*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014579:Urotensins / Q000235:genetics*
D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C121697:UTS2R protein, human; D014579:Urotensins; C029677:urotensin II