TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB-Mediated Inflammation Contributes to Cardiac Dysfunction in Rats of PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is related with myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction, while the molecular mechanism has not been clear. This study investigated whether TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB-mediated inflammation involved in myocardial injury of PTSD. Adult male Wistar rats were exposed to single-prolonged stress (SPS), which was used broadly as a animal model of PTSD. Morris Water Maze (MWM) test and forced swimming test (FST) was carried out for behavioral testing. The protein expression of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in the left ventricular of heart and TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB-mediated inflammation were examined. Our results showed that there were obvious increased in the protein expression of ANP and BNP in heart after exposure to SPS, SPS also significantly enhanced the serum level of IL-1β and TNF-α, and meanwhile, the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway were activated. These results demonstrated that the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway were involved in the myocardial injury of PTSD, which might be one of possible molecular mechanism contributed to the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction in PTSD.