Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor improves early remodeling in isoproterenol-induced cardiac injury in rats

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor improves early remodeling in isoproterenol-induced cardiac injury in rats

Pharmacological Reports Copyright © 2012 by Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences 2012, 64, 643–649 ISSN 1734-1140 Granulocyte colon...

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Pharmacological Reports

Copyright © 2012 by Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences

2012, 64, 643–649 ISSN 1734-1140

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor improves early remodeling in isoproterenol-induced cardiac injury in rats Ludimila Forechi, Marcelo P. Baldo, Diana Meyerfreund, José G. Mill Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal University of Espirito Santo, Av. Marechal Campos 1468, Maruipe, 29042-755, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil Correspondence: José G. Mill, e-mail:

[email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract: Background: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been used in some animal models and humans with wellestablished cardiovascular diseases. However, its effects in the initial stage of progressive non-ischemic heart failure are unknown. Methods: Wistar rats (260–300 g) were divided into three groups: control (without any intervention), ISO (150 mg/kg isoproterenol hydrochloride sc, once a day for two consecutive days), and ISO-GCSF (50 μg/kg/d G-CSF for 7 days beginning 24 h after the last administration of ISO). Echocardiography was performed at baseline and after 30 days of follow-up. Subsequently, animals were anesthetized for hemodynamic analysis. The left ventricle was removed for analysis of interstitial collagen deposition and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Results: Isoproterenol led to left ventricular dilation (control, 7.7 ± 0.14 mm; ISO, 8.7 ± 0.16 mm; ISO-GCSF 7.8 ± 0.09 mm; p < 0.05), myocardial fibrosis (control, 2.0 ± 0.18%; ISO, 9.1 ± 0.81%; ISO-GCSF 5.9 ± 0.58%; p < 0.05) and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy (control, 303 ± 10 μm ; ISO, 356 ± 18 μm ; ISO-GCSF 338 ± 11 μm ; p < 0.05). However, G-CSF partially prevented collagen deposition and left ventricular enlargement, with a slight effect on hypertrophy. Characterizing a compensated stage of disease, hemodynamic analysis did not change. Conclusion: G-CSF administered for 7 days was effective in preventing the onset of ventricular remodeling induced by high-dose isoproterenol with decreased collagen deposition and chamber preservation. Key words: isoproterenol, heart failure, G-CSF, collagen

Abbreviations: CVF – collagen volume fraction, dP/dt – maximal rate of pressure, FS – fractional shortening, G-CSF – granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, HR – heart rate, ISO – isoproterenol, LVEDD – left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, LVEDP – left ventricle end-diastolic pressure, LVESD – left ventricular peak systolic dimension, LVSP – left ventricle systolic pressure, MCSA – myocyte cross sectional area

Introduction Massive sympathetic discharge, as observed in extreme stress or with high activity of the central nervous system, has deleterious effects on the heart. In

these cases, high oxygen consumption by the myocardium leads to subendocardial ischemia and infarction followed by high levels of oxidative stress, ventricular dilation, fibrosis, progressive systolic dysfunction and heart failure [6, 17, 29]. Non-invasive animal models have been used to mimic the pathophysiological characteristics of this cardiomyopathy in humans [7]. Rats treated with high doses of the nonselective b-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol are a widely used model to assess progressive left ventricular dysfunction. Although the mechanisms by which isoproterenol induces myocardial injury are not completely understood, b-adrenergic receptor overstimulation leads to intense coroPharmacological Reports, 2012, 64, 643–649

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nary vasoconstriction and the development of microinfarcts that more frequently affect the subendocardium or transmural region of the left ventricle wall [10, 27, 28]. Teerlink et al. [29] showed progressive left ventricular dilation and dysfunction associated with long-term mortality rates after high doses of isoproterenol. Recently, the therapeutic use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been reported in some tissues, such as heart, kidney and brain [4, 21, 31]. Studies have suggested that this cytokine can act in damaged hearts by recruiting bone marrow-derived cells and promoting angiogenesis, reducing apoptosis and modulating collagen content, thus improving overall cardiac function [1, 2, 12, 16, 19, 22, 23]. Most of these studies have been performed in different models of ischemic cardiomyopathy. Little is known about the potential cardioprotective effects of G-CSF in non-ischemic cardiomyopathies. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the effects of G-CSF treatment on structural and functional cardiac parameters during cardiomyopathy induced by high-dose isoproterenol in rats.

Echocardiography

Transthoracic echocardiography was performed at baseline and 4 weeks after isoproterenol treatment as previously described [9]. Rats were intraperitoneally anesthetized with ketamine (50 mg/kg; Agener, Brazil) plus xylazine (10 mg/kg; Bayer, Brazil) and placed in the supine position, and electrodes were placed in the subcutaneous tissue of limbs for continuous electrocardiogram recordings. M-mode images were acquired with an echocardiograph (Aplio XG SSA-790, Toshiba, Japan) using a 7.5 MHz transducer transverse to the left ventricle at the level of papillary muscles. M-mode values of left ventricular enddiastolic dimension (LVEDD) and left ventricular peak systolic dimension (LVESD) were measured for each animal as the average of four consecutive cardiac cycles under regular rhythm. Heart rate (HR), fractional shortening {FS = ((LVEDD – LVESD)/ LVEDD) × 100)} and ejection fraction were obtained. The measures were performed by an investigator blinded to groups at both times. Hemodynamic analysis

Materials and Methods

Animals and groups

Male Wistar rats (260–300 g) were acquired from the animal facility at the Federal University of Espírito Santo and randomly assigned into three groups: a control group, without any intervention; the ISO group, which received isoproterenol hydrochloride (150 mg/kg, sc, Sigma-Aldrich Inc., USA) once a day for two consecutive days; and the ISO-GCSF group, which received G-CSF (Biosintetica, 50 μg/kg, sc) treatment for 7 days beginning 24 h after the last isoproterenol dose. Cardiac function in these animals was studied 3 weeks after the last G-CSF dose. Animals had free access to water and standard rat chow throughout the experimental period, and all of the procedures were performed in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH Publication No. 85–23, revised 1996) and were approved by the institutional animal research committee (No. 012/2010). 644

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Four weeks after the first isoproterenol dose, animals were anesthetized with ketamine (90 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg), and hemodynamic measurements were performed as previously reported [3]. Briefly, the right common carotid artery was dissected to insert a fluid-filled polyethylene catheter (P50) connected to a blood pressure transducer (TRI 21, Letica Scientific Instruments, Spain). The catheter was then advanced into the left ventricle to record peak systolic pressure (LVSP), end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), and heart rate (HR) in cardiac cycles under regular cardiac beats. The maximal rate of pressure rise and fall (+dP/dt and –dP/dt) was obtained electronically (Powerlab/4SP ML750, AdInstruments, Australia) and used as left ventricular contractility and relaxation indexes, respectively. Determination of myocyte hypertrophy and fibrosis

After hemodynamic recordings, the heart was removed and rapidly washed with cold saline solution, and the ventricles were separated from the atria, blotted dry and weighed. The left ventricle was divided into three slices of approximately 2 mm, which were

G-CSF prevents early cardiomyopathy in rats Ludimila Forechi et al.

prepared for histology. Each slice was serially cut into 6 μm-thick transverse sections and stained with Sirius red to determine collagen volume fraction (CVF). Slices were also stained with hematoxylin-eosin to determine the myocyte cross sectional area (MCSA). The percentage of picrosirius red staining, which indicated CVF, was measured in images obtained with a video camera (Olympus, X-750, Indonesia) coupled to an optical microscope (Top Light B2, Bel Engineering, Italy) under 400× magnification. Nine areas of high-power fields were analyzed in the subendocardial layer, and nine were analyzed in the subepicardial layer. For MCSA evaluation, 40 to 60 myocytes positioned perpendicularly to the plane of the section with a visible nucleus and a clearly outlined and unbroken cell membrane were selected in each animal. Cell images viewed with a video camera were projected onto a monitor and traced. Images for CVF and MCSA evaluation were processed with Image J software (v. 1.43u, National Institutes of Health, USA). Statistical analysis

All of the data are expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). The goodness of fit for normal distribution was evaluated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Levene’s test was used to assess the equality of variances. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means between the experimental groups. Comparison among repeated

Tab. 1.

measurements of echocardiography was assessed by a two-way ANOVA, followed by Fischer’s post-hoc test for multiples comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results General characteristics

The mortality during the 48 h of isoproterenol treatment was 18%, with the majority (67%) occurring after the first dose. Soon after each isoproterenol administration, signs of agitation and pelage erection were evident in treated animals. While body weight gain was observed in control rats, body weight loss was evident in both groups treated with isoproterenol (control: 12 ± 2.5 g; ISO: –12 ± 2.4 g; ISO + G-CSF: –17 ± 1.7 g; p < 0.05). However, the acute body weight loss observed in isoproterenol-treated rats was fully recovered during follow-up. As observed in Table 1, no significant difference was observed in relation to the morphometric parameters at the end of the follow-up period. Functional and structural assessment

Comparing the evolution of the echocardiographic parameters, an increased end-diastolic dimension was

Morphometric and hemodynamic parameters four weeks after isoproterenol treatment

Sample size (n) BW (g) LV/BW (mg/g) RV/BW (mg/g) HR (bpm) SBP (mmHg) DBP (mmHg) LVSP (mmHg) LVEDP (mmHg) dP/dt+ (mmHg/s) dP/dt– (mmHg/s)

Control

ISO

ISO-GCSF

12 401 ± 9 1.99 ± 0.04 0.51 ± 0.01 245 ± 6 114 ± 4.1 84 ± 4.1 127 ± 5 7 ± 0.7 4856 ± 188 3369 ± 196

19 411 ± 7 2.01 ± 0.03 0.49 ± 0.01 241 ± 6 113 ± 2.9 82 ± 2.9 126 ± 3 7 ± 0.6 4806 ± 133 3731 ± 173

16 396 ± 6 2.03 ± 0.04 0.50 ± 0.01 235 ± 6 113 ± 2.9 83 ± 2.4 126 ± 4 7 ± 0.9 4775 ± 181 3593 ± 177

BW – body weight; LV – left ventricle; RV – right ventricle; HR – heart rate; SBP – systolic blood pressure; DBP – diastolic blood pressure; LVSP – left ventricular systolic pressure; LVEDP – left ventricular end diastolic pressure; dP/dt – maximum rate of pressure rise and fall. Data are depicted as the mean ± SEM Pharmacological Reports, 2012, 64, 643–649

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Tab. 2. Echocardiographic

parameters at baseline and after four weeks of follow-up

LVEDD (mm) Baseline 4 weeks Variation LVESD (mm) Baseline 4 weeks Variation EF (%) Baseline 4 weeks Variation FS (%) Baseline 4 weeks Variation

Control (n = 8)

ISO (n = 8)

ISO-GCSF (n = 7)

7.0 ± 0.24 7.7 ± 0.14 0.7 ± 0.25

7.1 ± 0.12 8.7 ± 0.16* 1.6 ± 0.12*

7.2 ± 0.11 7.8 ± 0.09# 0.6 ± 0.15#

3.5 ± 0.16 3.9 ± 0.21 0.4 ± 0.21

3.8 ± 0.13 4.8 ± 0.22* 1.0 ± 0.22*

3.9 ± 0.15 4.1 ± 0.10# 0.2 ± 0.09#

82.5 ± 2.55 84.9 ± 1.93 2.4 ± 1.53

81.8 ± 1.23 80.9 ± 1.82 -0.8 ± 2.51

79.0 ± 3.05 83.5 ± 1.55 4.6 ± 3.04

49.8 ± 1.00 49.2 ± 2.06 –0.6 ± 2.22

47.4 ± 1.18 45.6 ± 1.63 –1.8 ± 2.15

46.0 ± 1.58 47.9 ± 1.26 1.9 ± 0.85

LVEDD – left ventricular end diastolic dimensions; LVESD – left ventricular systolic dimensions; EF – ejection fraction; FS – shortening fraction. * p < 0.05 vs. CONTROL; # p < 0.05 vs. ISO

observed in all three groups (Tab. 2). In animals treated with isoproterenol, the increase was higher compared with other groups. The left ventricular end-systolic dimension was also increased in these animals. Treatment with G-CSF was effective in preventing left ventricular enlargement, as evaluated by the end-diastolic diameter. Fractional shortening and ejection fraction did not differ significantly between groups. Moreover, hemodynamic analysis did not change in any parameter evaluated (Tab. 1).

Morphological evaluation

When myocardial fibrosis was assessed in Sirius redstained sections, we found higher myocardium collagen content in rats receiving isoproterenol than in the control group. G-CSF treatment attenuated the increase in the collagen fractional volume induced by isoproterenol (control: 2.0 ± 0.18%; ISO: 9.1 ± 0.81%; ISO-GCSF: 5.9 ± 0.58%; p < 0.05). The transverse area of cardiomyocytes was higher after isoproterenol administration, which was partially reversed by G-CSF (control: 303 ± 10 μm2; ISO: 356 ± 18 μm2; ISO-GCSF: 338 ± 11 μm2; p < 0.05) (Fig. 1). 646

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Discussion

Our study showed that a high isoproterenol dose administered during two consecutive days induces ventricular remodeling and increases collagen in the left ventricle wall in rats. These changes can be partially prevented by G-CSF because animals treated with this cytokine 7 days after isoproterenol administration clearly showed less ventricular dilation and reduced collagen content in the left ventricular myocardium. Teerlink et al. [29] described the kinetics of cardiac structural and functional changes after different doses of isoproterenol in rats. They showed progressive left ventricular dilation at all tested doses (85, 170, and 340 mg/kg) up to 16 weeks of follow-up through passive pressure-volume curves but without affecting hemodynamic parameters. Similar results were found in our study, in which isoproterenol-treated rats (150 mg/kg) showed similar results regarding left ventricular dilation, as evaluated by echocardiographic analysis, but without hemodynamic repercussions. These data are in accordance with Teerlink et al. [29] because the animals presented an initial stage of cardiomyopathy development. Grimm et al. [11], in

G-CSF prevents early cardiomyopathy in rats Ludimila Forechi et al.

Fig. 1. Histological analysis of the left ventricle 4 weeks after isoproterenol. ( A) Representative images of hematoxylin-eosin- (top) and picrosirius red-stained (below) sections. (B) Myocyte cross-sectional area and (C) collagen volume fraction. Images were acquired at 400 ´ magnification. * p < 0.05 vs. control; # p < 0.05 vs. ISO

contrast, reported increased left ventricular enddiastolic pressure only after two weeks of a single dose of isoproterenol (150 mg/kg). These data, however, were not confirmed in our study. Several studies have shown that G-CSF improves cardiac function in animals submitted to ischemic injury by preventing enlargement of cardiac cavities and reducing mortality [14, 16, 20, 25]. The mecha-

nism by which G-CSF acts on the cardiovascular system remains under intense discussion. Several studies have shown that these beneficial effects may depend on the interaction of different mechanisms, such as interference in anti-apoptotic signaling [1, 12], myocyte regeneration [8], and modulation of synthesis and degradation of components in the extracellular matrix [19]. In this paper, we observed that G-CSF prevents Pharmacological Reports, 2012, 64, 643–649

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early dilation, as evaluated by left ventricular diastolic dimension four weeks after a high dose of isoproterenol. These results suggest that acute G-CSF can prevent the early structural changes leading to systolic dysfunction and heart failure development after catecholaminergic aggression. It was previously described that adrenergic overstimulation leads to myocyte apoptosis [26]. Moreover, apoptosis is directly involved in heart failure progression [24]. Studies have shown that G-CSF therapy seems to reduce heart failure progression through an antiapoptotic effect [1, 12, 13]. For example, G-CSF reduced FasL expression and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in rats with heart failure [13]. Thus, the reduction in left ventricular dilation observed in our work could be explained by a reduction in cardiomyocyte apoptosis by early G-CSF treatment. Cardiac hypertrophy is another effect associated with high-dose isoproterenol administration and the first step to cardiac decompensation. It was reported that high isoproterenol doses (85 and 150 mg/kg) led to left ventricular hypertrophy [5, 11]. We observed slight myocyte hypertrophy caused by isoproterenol, despite no significant changes in the left ventricular mass. It is likely that the increased volume of remaining myocytes compensated for the myocyte loss, mainly in the subendocardial layer, in which fibrosis is more intense. Similarly, Teerlink et al. [29] did not observe differences in left ventricular weight early after isoproterenol administration. G-CSF reduced myocyte hypertrophy, which can be explained by reduction of left ventricular dilation in G-CSF-treated animals. In the present study, isoproterenol increased collagen deposition in the myocardium. This finding is in accordance with a previous description in which a high dose of isoproterenol induced intense collagen deposition [5]. G-CSF partially prevented collagen deposition. Several studies have also shown that GCSF decreases myocardial fibrosis after cardiac damage [15, 19, 22]. This G-CSF effect does not seem to be restricted to hypoxic damage because Macambira et al. [17] recently observed that repeated injections of G-CSF decreased inflammation and fibrosis in a mouse model of Chagasic cardiomyopathy. We cannot rule out the possibility that the absence of hemodynamic impairment could be due the cardiodepressor effect of ketamine plus xylazine anesthesia. However, similar results were found by Teerlink et al. [29] using the same pharmacological model and a dif-

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ferent anesthetic agent. Another possibility lies in the difficulty in detecting small differences with a fluidfilled catheter. The tip catheter has important properties that improve the sensitivity of hemodynamic measurements. Conversely, the means from the three groups are closely similar and seem to be true and not due to the method used. In summary, our results showed that acute administration of G-CSF can modulate cardiac remodeling by preventing collagen deposition, myocyte hypertrophy and left ventricular dilation, contributing to avoiding hemodynamic deterioration and heart failure development. Further experiments need to be performed before these results can be used in clinical settings. However, it has been proven that G-CSF is safe for human use, and thus, could help as a possible adjuvant therapy for heart failure induced by sympathetic overload.

Acknowledgments:

This study was supported by grants from National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Espírito Santo Research Foundation (FAPES/PRONEX).

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Received: July 14, 2011; in the revised form: January 6, 2012; accepted: February 17, 2012.

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