title: Cardiac release of urocortin precedes the occurrence of irreversible myocardial damage in the rat heart exposed to ischemia/reperfusion injury.
abstract: This study evaluates whether cardiac ischemia induces release of urocortin, before and independently from myocyte cell death. Urocortin levels rose after 5-min ischemia and peaked after 10-min ischemia, when cell death was not detected. However, myocyte apoptosis and/or necrosis occurred following 20- and 30-min ischemia, which paralleled a fall in urocortin levels, suggesting that urocortin expression and release are mainly sustained by metabolically challenged, though still viable myocytes. Hence, since cardiac release of urocortin, unlike that of conventional biomarkers, occurs before and apart from cell death, urocortin levels may be clinically useful in the diagnosis of sublethal myocardial ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Medical Molecular Biology Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom. r.knight@ich.ucl.ac.uk <r.knight@ich.ucl.ac.uk>
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen-Scarabelli
authors.forename: Zhaokan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Roy B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: McCauley
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Di Rezze
authors.forename: Gabriele M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Scarabelli
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Townsend
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Latchman
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saravolatz
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faggian
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzucco
authors.forename: Hardial S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chowdrey
authors.forename: Anastasis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stephanou
authors.forename: Tiziano M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Scarabelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D015428:Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009336:Necrosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D054832:Urocortins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D054832:Urocortins