Key result
Galanin receptor antagonist M40 improves cardiac function and reduces fibrosis in rats with heart failure.
Why the study?
Sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal characterize heart failure, and blocking galanin receptor type 1 may provide therapeutic benefit.
Does the galanin receptor antagonist M40 improve cardiac function and remodeling in rats with heart failure?
Does the galanin receptor antagonist M40 improve cardiac function and remodeling in rats with heart failure?
The galanin receptor antagonist M40 improves cardiac function and attenuates remodeling in a rat model of heart failure, highlighting a potential novel therapeutic target.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Hypothesis-generating for galanin antagonism in HF; requires validation in larger models before human translation.
BACKGROUND: Sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal are important characteristics of heart failure. Recent studies demonstrate that galanin reduces the discharge of acetylcholine and inhibits vagal bradycardia by acting on galanin receptor type 1 (GalR1). We speculated that blocking GalR1 is beneficial for heart failure. METHODS: Rats with heart failure were induced by myocardial infarction. The rats were injected intraperitoneally with galanin receptor antagonist M40 solution (30 nmol/kg) or saline for 4 weeks. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in plasma. The ratio of heart weight to body weight (HW/BW), hematoxylin-eosin (HE), and Masson trichrome stain was used to evaluate cardiac remodeling. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) in plasma, and sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca(2+) -ATPase (SERCA2) in heart tissue were detected to confirm the mechanism of the cardioprotection effect. RESULTS: Compared with rats injected with saline, M40 effectively improved cardiac function of contraction; decreased BNP, IL-6, and HW/BW (all P < 0.05); attenuated cardiac fibrosis; and upregulated SERCA2 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: M40 improves cardiac function and attenuates remodeling, suggesting that galanin receptor antagonist may be a potential therapeutic agent for HF.
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Chen et al. (2015) studied Heart failure. Galanin receptor antagonist M40 vs. Saline was evaluated on Cardiac function, BNP, IL-6, HW/BW, and cardiac fibrosis (p=<0.05). Galanin receptor antagonist M40 improved cardiac function, decreased BNP, IL-6, and HW/BW, and attenuated cardiac fibrosis in rats with heart failure.
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