Key result
Etanercept reduces cardiac fibrosis in high-fat diet-fed rats by decreasing STAT3 activation.
Why the study?
Diet-induced obesity is associated with increased TNF-alpha, and while the TNF-alpha inhibitor etanercept alleviates cardiac hypertrophy, its effect on cardiac fibrosis in this setting was unknown.
Does etanercept reduce cardiac fibrosis in rats with diet-induced obesity?
Does etanercept reduce cardiac fibrosis in rats with diet-induced obesity?
Etanercept ameliorates cardiac fibrosis in a rat model of diet-induced obesity by reducing STAT3 activation.
Diet-induced obesity (DIO) is considered the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Increases in the plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is associated with DIO. Etanercept, a TNF-α inhibitor, has been shown to alleviate cardiac hypertrophy. To investigate the effect of etanercept on cardiac fibrosis in DIO model, rats on high fat diet (HFD) were subdivided into two groups: the etanercept group and vehicle group. Cardiac injury was identified by classic methods, while fibrosis was characterized by histological analysis of the hearts. Etanercept treatment at 0.8 mg/kg/week twice weekly by subcutaneous injection effectively alleviates the cardiac fibrosis in HFD-fed rats. STAT3 activation seems to be induced in parallel with fibrosis-related gene expression in the hearts of HFD-fed rats. Decreased STAT3 activation plays a role in the etanercept-treated animals. Moreover, fibrosis-related genes are activated by palmitate in parallel with STAT3 activation in H9c2 cells. Etanercept may inhibit the effects of palmitate, but it is less effective than a direct inhibitor of STAT3. Direct inhibition of STAT3 activation by etanercept seems unlikely. Etanercept has the ability to ameliorate cardiac fibrosis through reduction of STAT3 activation after the inhibition of TNF-α and/or its receptor.
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Hsu et al. (2021) studied Diet-induced obesity and cardiac fibrosis. Etanercept vs. Vehicle was evaluated on Cardiac fibrosis and STAT3 activation. Etanercept treatment at 0.8 mg/kg/week effectively alleviated cardiac fibrosis in high fat diet-fed rats through reduction of STAT3 activation.
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