title: Treatment with TNF-alpha or bacterial lipopolysaccharide attenuates endocardial endothelial cell-mediated stimulation of cardiac fibroblasts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The endocardial endothelium that lines the inner cavity of the heart is distinct from the microvascular endothelial cells and modulates cardiac muscle performance in a manner similar to the vascular endothelial modulation of vascular structure and vasomotor tone. Although the modulatory effects of endocardial endothelium (EE) on cardiomyocytes are firmly established, the regulatory effects of endocardial endothelium on the cardiac interstitium and its cellular components remain ill defined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We investigated whether the stimulatory effect of EE on cardiac fibroblasts would be altered when EECs are activated by the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) or the endotoxin bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Both TNF-alpha and LPS were found to independently attenuate the stimulatory effect of EE on cardiac fibroblasts. These agents lowered the synthesis or release of ET-1 and increased the secretion of TGF-beta and NO.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study using endocardial endothelial cells (EECs) and neonatal cardiac fibroblasts demonstrate that pro-inflammatory cytokines cause altered secretion of paracrine factors by EECs and inhibit proliferation and lower collagen synthesis in fibroblasts. These changes may influence fibroblast response and extra cellular matrix remodeling in pathological conditions of the heart.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cellular & Molecular Cardiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram 695011, India. leenamary24@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kuruvilla
authors.forename: Cheranellore Chandrasekharan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kartha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000737:chemistry; D004699:Endocardium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009573:Nitrites / Q000378:metabolism; D019899:Paracrine Communication; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013552:Swine; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009573:Nitrites; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha