Vitamin E and oxidative stress in the heart of the cardiomyopathic syrian hamster
Abstract
Myocardial deterioration is relentlessly progressive in almost all patients who develop overt symptoms. Many dilated cardiomyopathies are associated with a marked increase in cardiac sympathetic tone which may be toxic to myocytes. Microvascular spasm, leading to diffuse, focal reperfusion injury, also appears to be an important mechanism of cardiomyocyte loss in many models of dilated cardiomyopathy. Free radicals may mediate both catecholamine-induced damage and reperfusion injury. We hypothesized that myocardial antioxidant reserve may be significantly reduced in dilated cardiomyopathy and that alpha-tocopheryl acetate may be of benefit. The enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase were measured in the myocardial tissue of control and cardiomyopathic hamsters in early (25-50 days) and late (275-320 days) stages of the cardiomyopathy. In another study, myocardial glutathione peroxidase activity and protein oxidation was measured in control and late stage cardiomyopathic hamsters receiving alpha-tocopheryl (70 mg/kg/day) or vehicle for 1 month. There were no significant differences in glutathione peroxidase activity between control and cardiomyopathic hamsters in the early stage of the cardiomyopathy. ...Continue Reading
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