Early short-term vagal nerve stimulation attenuates cardiac remodeling after reperfused myocardial infarction.
BACKGROUND
Vagal nerve stimulation (VS) has been suggested to be an effective adjunct to reperfusion therapy in myocardial infarction (MI). However, the effect of VS on left ventricular (LV) remodeling after reperfused MI has not been examined.


RESULTS
We investigated the effects of early, brief VS on acute inflammatory reactions (study 1) and chronic LV remodeling (study 2) in a rabbit model of reperfused MI. In study 1, rabbits were subjected to 60-minute coronary artery occlusion followed by reperfusion alone (MI, n = 8) or treated with 24-hour VS (MI-VS, n = 8). At 24 hours after ischemia-reperfusion, MI-VS rabbits showed significantly decreased myocardial infiltration of neutrophils and reduced myocardial expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and matrix metalloproteinase-8 and -9, compared with MI rabbits. Myocardial expression of interleukin-6 was not affected by VS. In study 2, rabbits were subjected to coronary occlusion and reperfusion alone (n = 16) or treated with VS for 3 days (n = 14). At 8 weeks after ischemia-reperfusion, MI-VS rabbits showed significantly improved LV dysfunction and dilatation, and significantly reduced infarct size, infarct wall thinning, and LV weight compared with MI rabbits.


CONCLUSIONS
Early, short-term VS attenuates LV remodeling after reperfused MI, which may be associated with suppression of acute inflammatory reactions.
Uemura
Kazunori
K
Department of Cardiovascular Dynamics, Advanced Medical Engineering Center, National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Japan. kuemura@ri.ncvc.go.jp
Zheng
Can
C
Li
Meihua
M
Kawada
Toru
T
Sugimachi
Masaru
M
D000818:Animals; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015428:Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D055536:Vagus Nerve Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology*