title: Bezafibrate Attenuates Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy and Fibrosis.
abstract: Background.Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α(PPAR-α) is closely associated with the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Previous studies have indicated that bezafibrate (BZA), a PPAR-αagonist, could attenuate insulin resistance and obesity. This study was designed to determine whether BZA could protect against pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy.Methods.Mice were orally given BZA (100 mg/kg) for 7 weeks beginning 1 week after aortic banding (AB) surgery. Cardiac hypertrophy was assessed based on echocardiographic, histological, and molecular aspects. Moreover, neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs) were used to investigate the effects of BZA on the cardiomyocyte hypertrophic response in vitro.Results.Our study demonstrated that BZA could alleviate cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in mice subjected to AB surgery. BZA treatment also reduced the phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β(GSK3β) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). BZA suppressed phenylephrine- (PE-) induced hypertrophy of cardiomyocyte in vitro. The protective effects of BZA were abolished by the treatment of the PPAR-αantagonist in vitro.Conclusions.BZA could attenuate pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Si-Chi
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Guo
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Ying
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Pei
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Cardiovascular Research Institute of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Qi-Zhu
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2210-3169
authors.initials: QZ
authors.lastname: Tang