title: Influence of starvation on heart contractility and corticosterone level in rats.
abstract: The physiological changes, including cardiac modification, that occur during starvation are not yet completely understood. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a 2-week starvation period on heart contractility, muscle mass, and irisin and corticosterone levels in rats. Rats in the starved group showed a significant reduction in the body, heart, kidney, and muscle weight (n = 23, p < 0.05). Blood glucose, total protein, and albumin showed a 44, 17.5, and 10.3 % reduction, respectively (p < 0.05). Lipid reserves, such as total lipid, triglyceride, and free fatty acid, were also comparably reduced (p < 0.05). However, the bilirubin, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and creatine kinase levels were higher than in the control group (p < 0.05). The blood irisin level was unchanged, but the stress-related corticosterone level was significantly higher in the starved group. The differences observed in M-mode echocardiography were further compared with the body-weight-matched control group. Starvation reduced the left ventricle mass; however, this difference was not significant compared with the body-weight-matched group (p > 0.05). In the starvation group, the impairment of cardiac output was dependent on the reduction in stroke volume and heart rate. Starvation induced a severe reduction in ejection fraction and fractional shortening when compared with the body-weight-matched control group (p < 0.05). In summary, prolonged starvation, which leads to a deficiency of available nutrition, increases the stress-related corticosterone level, impairs the cardiac output, and is associated with changes in cardiac morphogeometry.
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Ryul
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Hee
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyoung Kyu
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jubert
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marquez
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung Doo
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.affiliation: National Research Laboratory for Mitochondrial Signaling, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, Inje University, Bokji-Ro 57, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 614-735, Republic of Korea. phyhanj@inje.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002302:Cardiac Output; D003348:Cortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000378:metabolism; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013217:Starvation / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013318:Stroke Volume
chemical_list: C583676:FNDC5 protein, rat; D005353:Fibronectins; D003348:Cortisone
keywords: Contractility; Corticosterone; Echocardiography; Irisin; Left ventricle; Starvation