Overexpression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase in the median preoptic nucleus improves cardiac function after myocardial infarction in the rat. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Previous reports indicate that overexpression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), an intracellular superoxide (O2 (-) ) scavenging enzyme, in the brain subfornical organ improves cardiac function in a mouse model of heart failure (HF). A downstream hypothalamic site, the MnPO, may act as a relay centre for O2 (-) to serve as a mediator in the pathophysiology of HF. To test the hypothesis that elevated O2 (-) in the MnPO contributes to the pathophysiology of HF and decreased cardiac function, we injected adenovirus encoding CuZnSOD (AdCuZnSOD, n=7) or control empty adenovirus vector (AdEmpty, n=7) into the MnPO of normal rats. Subsequently, rats were subjected to coronary artery ligation to create a myocardial infarct (MI) of the left ventricle. Cardiac function was monitored via echocardiography. Upon completion, rat brains were examined for CuZnSOD expression in MnPO via immunofluorescence and histopathological analyses of cardiac infarct size were conducted. Baseline (EF) ejection fractions (%) of AdCuZnSOD and AdEmpty rats were 731 and 711, respectively. Two weeks after MI, EF was significantly decreased in both groups of rats (AdCuZnSOD: 513, AdEmpty: 461). In contrast, by 4weeks post MI, EF had improved to 642 in AdCuZnSOD rats, yet was only 521 in AdEmpty rats, and this was accompanied by lower plasma noradrenaline levels in AdCuZnSOD rats (0.490.19ng/mL) compared to AdEmpty rats (1.200.32ng/mL). In conclusion, despite decreases in EF early after MI, overexpression of CuZnSOD in the MnPO was related to an improvement in left ventricular function and concomitant decreased plasma noradrenaline levels 4weeks post MI.

published proceedings

  • Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol

altmetric score

  • 7

author list (cited authors)

  • Collister, J. P., Hartnett, C., Mayerhofer, T., Nahey, D., Stauthammer, C., Krger, M., ... Zimmerman, M. C.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Collister, John P||Hartnett, Cristina||Mayerhofer, Tim||Nahey, David||Stauthammer, Christopher||Krüger, Maxie||Tobias, Anthony||O'Sullivan, M Gerard||Parker, Josh||Tian, Jun||Case, Adam J||Zimmerman, Matthew C

publication date

  • October 2016

publisher