title: Myocardial angiogenesis after chronic ghrelin treatment in a rat myocardial infarction model.
abstract: Ghrelin has a protective role in a rat model of myocardial infarction (MI), but the underlying mechanism is not clear. Here, we investigated the effects of ghrelin treatment on angiogenesis in an experimental rat MI model. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to MI by ligating the anterior descending coronary artery. The rats were then treated with a subcutaneous injection of ghrelin (100 μg/kg) or saline (control group) for 4 weeks. Sham animals underwent thoracotomy and pericardiotomy, but not LAD ligation. At 28 days after ligation, the ghrelin treatment group showed a higher density of α-SMA positive vessels than the saline treatment MI group in myocardial infarct (6±2.1/mm(2) vs 4±1.8/mm(2), P<0.05) and peri-infarct zones (25±9.5/mm(2) vs 15±5.7/mm(2), P<0.05). RT-PCR and western-blot analyses showed that ghrelin significantly increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the peri-infarct zone compared with the control group. Moreover, there was a two-fold increase of Bcl-2 and a 3.5-fold reduction of the Bax protein in the ghrelin-treated MI group compared to the saline treatment MI group. Taken together, ghrelin could induce angiogenesis in rats after MI, the process that may be associated with the enhancement of VEGF and an anti-apoptosis effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, PR China. yuanmingjie8341@163.com
authors.forename: Ming-Jie
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.lastname: He-Huang
authors.forename: Hong-Yao
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.lastname: Li-Quan
authors.lastname: Hong-Jiang
authors.forename: Cong-Xin
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D019254:Genes, bcl-2; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D010492:Pericardiectomy / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013908:Thoracotomy; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D054439:Ghrelin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; C494828:Bax protein, rat; C498862:Acta2 protein, rat; C467498:vascular endothelial growth factor A, rat