title: Pentoxifylline Prevents Driamycin-Induced Myocardial Fibrosis and Apoptosis in Rats.
abstract: Adriamycin (ADR) is a potent antineoplastic agent, but long-term treatment is limited by its cumulative, life-threatening cardiomyopathy. Recently, a few reports have shown that pentoxifylline (PTX) might produce cardioprotection in cardiac dysfunction. Here, we investigated the protective effects of PTX on ADR-induced cardiomyopathy in rats. Male rats were randomly assigned either to saline, ADR (adriamycin, 5 mg/kg/week), or A (adriamycin, 5 mg/kg/week) + PTX (pentoxifylline, 50 mg/kg/day) groups. After 3 weeks, these animals were sacrificed and the heart tissue was harvested for histological analysis and assessment of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and caspase-3 expression. Histopathological findings showed that PTX can alleviate myocardial damage caused by ADR. Cardiac fibrosis was significantly suppressed in the A+PTX group compared to that in the ADR group. The HGF gene expression was decreased significantly in the ADR group compared with the control group, but was increased in the A+PTX group. Caspase-3 was up-regulated in the ADR group, and down-regulated in the A+PTX group. These results show that treatment with PTX exerts a protective effect against ADR-induced myocardial fibrosis via regulation of HGF and caspase-3 gene expression. PTX may thus represent a useful new clinical tool for the treatment of ADR-induced cardiomyopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.forename: Shujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuese
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xuandi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yunquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Youzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Huishen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Meihua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010431:Pentoxifylline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D004317:Doxorubicin; D053148:Caspase 3; D010431:Pentoxifylline