title: Waon therapy attenuates cardiac hypertrophy and promotes myocardial capillary growth in hypertensive rats: a comparative study with fluvastatin.
abstract: Cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction are associated with a pro-inflammatory state and reduced NO bioavailability. Effects on myocardial structural and molecular alterations were compared between Waon therapy (WT; repeated dry sauna therapy) and statin in hypertensive rats. Seven-week-old Dahl salt-sensitive rats were assigned to 4 groups: low-salt (LS) diet, high-salt (HS) diet, HS diet with oral fluvastatin (FL; 10 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks) starting from the age of 9 weeks, and HS diet with WT treatment in a far-infrared dry sauna (39 °C for 15 min followed by 34 °C for 20 min once daily for 4 weeks). HS rats developed left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy with preserved LV systolic function. WT reduced LV wall thickness and myocyte cross-sectional area along with decreased levels of myocardial ANP and BNP mRNA expression compared with HS rats. Reduction in LV fibrosis and increase in capillary density in WT animals were accompanied by reductions in myocardial levels of TGF-β1, MMP2, p22(phox) and gp91(phox) mRNA expression, and increases in myocardial levels of VEGF and HSP90 mRNA and phosphorylated eNOS protein. These effects were comparable between WT and FL animals. WT improves structural and molecular alterations in salt-induced hypertensive rats similarly to fluvastatin.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan. pre0890@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ihori
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sobajima
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shida
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002196:Capillaries / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004452:Echocardiography; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005355:Fibrosis; D000077340:Fluvastatin; D018841:HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000628:therapy*; D007211:Indoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D020303:Rats, Inbred Dahl; D012982:Sodium, Dietary; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000187:drug effects; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling
chemical_list: D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D018841:HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins; C588351:Hsp90aa1 protein, rat; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D007211:Indoles; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012982:Sodium, Dietary; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C467498:vascular endothelial growth factor A, rat; D000077340:Fluvastatin; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; C496316:Nos3 protein, rat
keywords: Diastolic heart failure; Hypertensive heart; Sauna therapy; Statin