Selective Vascular Endothelial Protection Reduces Cardiac Dysfunction in Chronic Heart Failure

BACKGROUND: Chronic heart failure (CHF) induces endothelial dysfunction in part because of decreased nitric oxide (NO(·)) production, but the direct link between endothelial dysfunction and aggravation of CHF is not directly established. We previously reported that increased NO production via inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is associated with reduced cardiac dysfunction in CHF. Investigation of the role of endothelial PTP1B in these effects may provide direct evidence of the link between endothelial dysfunction and CHF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Endothelial deletion of PTP1B was obtained by crossing LoxP-PTP1B with Tie2-Cre mice. CHF was assessed 4 months after myocardial infarction. In some experiments, to exclude gene extinction in hematopoietic cells, Tie2-Cre/LoxP-PTP1B mice were lethally irradiated and reconstituted with bone marrow from wild-type mice, to obtain mouse with endothelial-specific deletion of PTP1B. Vascular function evaluated ex vivo in mesenteric arteries showed that in wild-type mice, CHF markedly impaired NO-dependent flow-mediated dilatation. CHF-induced endothelial dysfunction was less marked in endoPTP1B(-/-) mice, suggesting restored NO production. Echocardiographic, hemodynamic, and histological evaluations demonstrated that the selectively improved endothelial function was associated with reduced left ventricular dysfunction and remodeling, as well as increased survival, in the absence of signs of stimulated angiogenesis or increased cardiac perfusion. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention of endothelial dysfunction, by endothelial PTP1B deficiency, is sufficient to reduce cardiac dysfunction post myocardial infarction. Our results provide for the first time a direct demonstration that endothelial protection per se reduces CHF and further suggest a causal role for endothelial dysfunction in CHF development.