Ghrelin reduces rat myocardial calcification induced by nicotine and vitamin D3 in vivo

Ghrelin, a newly discovered bioactive peptide, initially was identified as a strong stimulant for the release of growth hormone (GH) and that has improved cardiac function in patients suffering from end-stage chronic heart failure. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that ghrelin may have myocardial protective effects. However, the role of ghrelin in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases remains unclear. In this study, an in vivo model of rat myocardial calcification induced by vitamin D3 and nicotine was used to study the possible mechanism in the regulatory action of ghrelin on the calcified myocardium. Calcification increased total Ca2+ content and 45Ca2+ deposition in the myocardium and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activation in the plasma. Compared with the control group, ghrelin mRNA expression was up-regulated and the myocardium calcium content was significantly increased in vitamin D3 and nicotine-treated rats. Rats were subcutaneously injected with 1 or 10 nmol/kg ghrelin. Rats treated with both low- and high-dose ghrelin decreased total Ca2+ content and 45Ca2+ deposition in cardiac muscle and inhibited ALP activation in the myocardium and plasma, in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, osteopontin (OPN) mRNA expression significantly decreased and that of endothelin (ET-1) significantly increased with myocardial calcification. Ghrelin treatment increased OPN expression at the mRNA level and reduced ET-1 mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that exogenous administration with ghrelin attenuates myocardial calcification induced by nicotine and vitamin D3, and that the possible mechanism is via the ghrelin-induced increase in the OPN mRNA levels and decrease in the ET-1 mRNA expression in the myocardium.