title: AZT dilates rat cardiac intercalated discs, and the effect is prevented by vitamin C.
abstract: We investigated whether chronic zidovudine (AZT) administration in rats could impair cardiac function by affecting intercellular junctions and whether vitamin C could prevent these possible effects. Rats were treated for 8 months with AZT, vitamin C, and AZT plus vitamin C. Cardiac fractional shortening (FS) was assessed by echocardiographic examination, intercellular junctions morphology was detected by electron microscopy (EM) and immunocytochemistry (ICC). AZT-treated rats showed a reduced FS that was not prevented by vitamin C. EM revealed that AZT treatment did not affect coronary endothelial intercellular junctions whereas it caused an enlargement of fascia adherens of the intercalated discs that was prevented by vitamin C. AZT treatment did not induce either alterations of gap junctions morphology or distribution of connexin-43, the major protein expressed in the gap junctions. We conclude that AZT treatment may be potentially deleterious to the heart by inducing a ROS-mediated damage of cardiac intercalated discs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Belloni
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petrelli
authors.forename: Ezia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruga
authors.forename: Ornella
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Milanesi
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ricato
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cavalli
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cargnelli
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bova