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Digitoxin Attenuates Heart Failure, Reduces Myocardial Hypertrophy, and Preserves the Calcium-Binding Proteins in

Camila T Picollo1, Alexandra A Dos Santos1, Ednei L Antonio1

  • 1Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.

Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics
|November 13, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Digitoxin treatment improved heart function and structure in rats with myocardial infarction (MI)-induced heart failure. This study shows digitoxin mitigates cardiac remodeling and contractile impairment in heart failure models.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Pharmacology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Myocardial infarction (MI) leads to heart failure with impaired cardiac structure and function.
  • Digitoxin has previously shown survival benefits in heart failure models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate digitoxin's effects on myocardial structure, ventricular function, and calcium kinetics proteins in a rat model of heart failure due to MI.
  • To investigate the long-term impact of digitoxin on cardiac remodeling and contractile function.

Main Methods:

  • Seventy-two rats with MI were randomized into sham, digitoxin, infarction, and infarction + digitoxin groups.
  • Assessments included echocardiography, hemodynamics, papillary muscle mechanics, collagen content, cardiomyocyte nuclear volume, and Western blot analysis.
  • Digitoxin was administered orally via rat chow for 120 days.

Main Results:

  • MI induced inotropic impairment, pulmonary congestion, increased nuclear volume, myocardial collagen, and Na+/Ca2+ exchanger levels.
  • MI decreased SERCA2 and phosphorylated phospholamban levels.
  • Digitoxin treatment improved cardiac remodeling, inotropism, ventricular performance, pulmonary congestion, collagen accumulation, nuclear volume, and normalized calcium kinetics proteins.

Conclusions:

  • Long-term digitoxin treatment attenuates congestive heart failure in rats with MI.
  • Digitoxin mitigates myocardial remodeling and contractile impairment.
  • Digitoxin preserves myocardial levels of proteins involved in calcium kinetics.

Keywords:
cardioactive agentscongestive heart failureheart failure—cellular and subcellular mechanismshypertrophyleft ventricular hypertrophymolecular biology

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