title: Myocardial leptin transcription in feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
abstract: Leptin is an adipokine, which is in humans with cardiac disease suspected to be involved in myocardial remodeling and thrombus formation. In cats, however, it is not known whether leptin plays a role in cardiac disease, i.e. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and the presence of an atrial thrombus (AT). The objective of the study was therefore to establish whether leptin is transcribed in the feline myocardium and to compare myocardial leptin mRNA concentrations in cats with HCM with and without AT, and in cats without cardiac diseases. Myocardial samples from 15 cats with HCM (five of these with AT), and 12 cats without cardiac diseases were investigated for leptin mRNA expression using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR, and the transcription levels were correlated with those obtained for a range of cytokines and remodeling parameters. Leptin mRNA expression was detected in the myocardium in all heart regions, with generally higher concentrations in the atria than in the ventricles. Cats with HCM exhibited higher atria and ventricular leptin transcription than cats without cardiac diseases, but reduced ventricular transcription levels in the presence of AT. A positive correlation between leptin, cytokine and remodeling marker transcription levels was observed. The present study shows that leptin is constitutively transcribed in the feline myocardium. The observed increase in leptin mRNA concentrations in the myocardium from cats with HCM and the reduction when an AT is present suggests varying gene activation in different stages of the disease and a potential involvement of leptin in the feline cardiac remodeling process.
authors.affiliation: Companion Animal Studies, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, United Kingdom; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, 00014, Finland. Electronic address: sfonfara@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fonfara
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 268, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: sarah.kitz@uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, 00014, Finland; Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 268, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: udo.hetzel@uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hetzel
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, 00014, Finland; Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 268, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: anja.kipar@uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kipar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002415:Cats; D016207:Cytokines; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D020738:Leptin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D020738:Leptin; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Adipokine; Atrium; Cardiac remodeling; Cardiomyocyte; Heart; Thrombus