title: Ghrelin Supresses Sympathetic Hyperexcitation in Acute Heart Failure in Male Rats: Assessing Centrally and Peripherally Mediated Pathways.
abstract: The hormone ghrelin prevents a dangerous increase in cardiac sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) after acute myocardial infarction (MI), although the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study aimed to determine whether ghrelin's sympathoinhibitory properties stem either from directly within the central nervous system, or via modulation of specific cardiac vagal inhibitory afferents. Cardiac SNA was recorded in urethane-anesthetized rats for 3 hours after the ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (ie, MI). Rats received ghrelin either sc (150 μg/kg) or intracerebroventricularly (5 μg/kg) immediately after the MI. In another two groups, the cervical vagi were denervated prior to the MI, followed by sc injection of either ghrelin or placebo. Acute MI induced a 188% increase in cardiac SNA, which was significantly attenuated in ghrelin-treated rats for both sc or intracerebroventricularly administration (36% and 76% increase, respectively). Consequently, mortality (47%) and the incidence of arrhythmic episodes (12 per 2 h) were improved with both routes of ghrelin administration (<13% and less than five per 2 h, respectively). Bilateral vagotomy significantly attenuated the cardiac SNA response to acute MI (99% increase). Ghrelin further attenuated the sympathetic response to MI in vagotomized rats so that the SNA response was comparable between vagotomized and vagal-intact MI rats treated with ghrelin. These results suggest that ghrelin may act primarily via a central pathway within the brain to suppress SNA after MI, although peripheral vagal afferent pathways may also contribute in part. The exact region(s) within the central nervous system whereby ghrelin inhibits SNA remains to be fully elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Physiology (M.S., H.T., T.S.), National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Osaka 565-8565, Japan; and Department of Physiology-Heart Otago (N.J., D.O.S.), University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Mikiyasu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shirai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Physiology (M.S., H.T., T.S.), National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Osaka 565-8565, Japan; and Department of Physiology-Heart Otago (N.J., D.O.S.), University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Joe
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Physiology (M.S., H.T., T.S.), National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Osaka 565-8565, Japan; and Department of Physiology-Heart Otago (N.J., D.O.S.), University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Hirotsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsuchimochi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Physiology (M.S., H.T., T.S.), National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Osaka 565-8565, Japan; and Department of Physiology-Heart Otago (N.J., D.O.S.), University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sonobe
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Physiology (M.S., H.T., T.S.), National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Osaka 565-8565, Japan; and Department of Physiology-Heart Otago (N.J., D.O.S.), University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Daryl O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Schwenke
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways; D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin