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Administration of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor accompanied with a balanced diet improves cardiac function
Pâmela Santana Daltro1, Paula Santana Alves2, Murilo Fagundes Castro3
1Center for Biotechnology and Cell Therapy, Hospital Sao Rafael, Salvador, BA, Brazil. ps.daltro@yahoo.com.br.
Insights
Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) treatment improved cardiac function in obese mice with type 2 diabetes. G-CSF reduced fibrosis, enhanced exercise capacity, and reversed cardiac abnormalities associated with high-fat diets.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Endocrinology
- Molecular Medicine
Background:
- High-fat diets (HFD) induce obesity and cardiovascular diseases by causing cardiac structural and hemodynamic abnormalities.
- Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a significant complication associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) on cardiac abnormalities in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes.
- To assess G-CSF's impact on cardiac structure, function, and metabolic alterations.
Main Methods:
- C57Bl/6 mice were fed a standard diet or HFD for 36 weeks.
- HFD-fed mice received either G-CSF treatment or a vehicle control.
- Cardiac structure and function were evaluated using electrocardiography, echocardiography, treadmill tests, and histological analyses. Metabolic parameters including body weight, glucose, and insulin levels were monitored.
Main Results:
- HFD induced type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiac fibrosis, and reduced exercise capacity.
- G-CSF administration accelerated weight loss, reduced insulin levels, and diminished cardiac fibrosis.
- G-CSF treatment reversed cardiac alterations such as bradycardia, increased QRS and P amplitudes, thickened ventricular walls, and improved cardiac output and exercise capacity.
Conclusions:
- G-CSF demonstrates beneficial effects in mitigating obesity-associated cardiac impairment.
- G-CSF holds potential as a therapeutic agent for diabetic cardiomyopathy in the context of obesity.
Background/Objectives:
High fat diet (HFD) is a major contributor to the development of obesity and cardiovascular diseases due to the induction of cardiac structural and hemodynamic abnormalities. We used a model of diabetic cardiomyopathy in C57Bl/6 mice fed with a HFD to investigate the effects of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), a cytokine known for its beneficial effects in the heart, on cardiac anatomical and functional abnormalities associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Methods:
Groups of C57Bl/6 mice were fed with standard diet (n = 8) or HFD (n = 16). After 36 weeks, HFD animals were divided into a group treated with G-CSF + standard diet (n = 8) and a vehicle control group + standard diet (n = 8). Cardiac structure and function were assessed by electrocardiography, echocardiography and treadmill tests, in addition to the evaluation of body weight, fasting glicemia, insulin and glucose tolerance at different time points. Histological analyses were performed in the heart tissue.
Results:
HFD consumption induced metabolic alterations characteristic of type 2 diabetes and obesity, as well as cardiac fibrosis and reduced exercise capacity. Upon returning to a standard diet, obese mice body weight returned to non-obese levels. G-CSF administration accelerated the reduction in of body weight in obese mice. Additionally, G-CSF treatment reduced insulin levels, diminished heart fibrosis, increased exercise capacity and reversed cardiac alterations, including bradycardia, elevated QRS amplitude, augmented P amplitude, increased septal wall thickness, left ventricular posterior thickening and cardiac output reduction.
Conclusion:
Our results indicate that G-CSF administration caused beneficial effects on obesity-associated cardiac impairment.
