Masters Degrees (Medical Physiology)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Medical Physiology) by browse.metadata.advisor "Du Toit, E. F."
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- ItemThe effect of CPT-1 inhibition on myocardial function and resistance to ischemia/reperfusion injury in a rodent model of the metabolic syndrome(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-12) Maarman, Gerald Jerome; Du Toit, E. F.; Marais, E.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences. Medical Physiology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Background: Obesity is associated with dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance and together these components characterise the metabolic syndrome (Dandona et al. 2005). In the state of obesity, there are high levels of circulating free fatty acids and increased rates of fatty oxidation which inhibit glucose oxidation. This: (i) reduce the heart‘s contractile ability, (ii) exacerbates ischemic/reperfusion injury and (iii) decreases cardiac mechanical function during reperfusion (Kantor et al. 2000; Liu et al. 2002; Taegtmeyer, 2000). Aim: The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of inhibiting fatty acid oxidation, with oxfenicine (4-Hydroxy-L-phenylglycine), on (i) cardiac mechanical function, (ii) mitochondrial respiration, (iii) myocardial tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion injury, (iv) CPT-I expression, MCAD expression, IRS-1 activation, total GLUT- 4 expression and (v) the RISK pathway (ERK42/44 and PKB/Akt). Methods: Male Wistar rats were fed a control rat chow diet or a high calorie diet (HCD) for 16 weeks. The HCD caused diet induced obesity (DIO). The animals were randomly divided into 4 groups [Control, DIO, Control + oxfen and DIO + oxfen]. The drug was administered for the last 8 weeks of feeding (200mg/kg/day). Animals were sacrificed and the hearts were perfused on the Langendorff perfusion system. After being subjected to regional ischemia and two hours of reperfusion, infarct size was determined. A separate series of animals were fed and/or treated and hearts were collected after 25 minutes global ischemia followed by 30 min reperfusion for determination of GLUT- 4, CPT-1, IRS -1, MCAD, ERK (42/44) and PKB/Akt expression/phosphorylation using Western blot analysis. A third series of hearts were excised and used for the isolation of mitochondria. Results: In the DIO rats, chronic oxfenicine treatment improved cardiac mechanical function by improving mitochondrial respiration. Oxfenicine inhibited CPT-1 expression but had no effect on MCAD or GLUT- 4 expression. Oxfenicine decreased IRS-1 iv expression, but not IRS-1 activation. Oxfenicine also improved myocardial tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion without activation of the RISK pathway (ERK & PKB). In the control rats, chronic oxfenicine treatment worsened cardiac mechanical function by adversely affecting mitochondrial respiration. Oxfenicine also worsened myocardial tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion in the control rats without changes in the RISK pathway (ERK & PKB). Oxfenicine had no effect on CPT-1, MCAD or GLUT- 4 expression. Oxfenicine increased IRS-1 expression, but not IRS-1 activity. Conclusion: Chronic oxfenicine treatment improved cardiac mechanical function and myocardial resistance to ischemia/reperfusion injury in obese animals, but worsened it in control animals. The improved cardiac mechanical function and tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion injury may be due to improvement in mitochondrial respiration.
- ItemThe effects of chronic melatonin treatment on myocardial function and ischaemia and reperfusion injury in a rat model of diet-induced obesity(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2010-03) Nduhirabandi, Frederic; Du Toit, E. F.; Lochner, Amanda; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences. Medical Physiology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Obesity is a major risk factor for ischaemic heart disease. Obesity-induced metabolic abnormalities have been associated with increased oxidative stress which may play an important role in the increased susceptibility to myocardial dysfunction and ischaemiareperfusion (I/R) injury seen in obesity. The pineal gland hormone, melatonin, has powerful antioxidant properties. Previous studies have shown that short-term or acute melatonin administration protects the normal healthy heart of lean animals against I/R damage. However, the effects of melatonin on the heart in obesity remain unknown. Moreover, the myocardial signalling mechanisms associated with the cardioprotective effects of melatonin have not been established. Using a rat model of diet induced obesity, we set out to: 1) investigate the effects of chronic melatonin administration on the development of diet-induced systemic alterations including biometric and metabolic parameters and oxidative stress, 2) determine whether chronic melatonin treatment protects the myocardium against ischaemia-reperfusion injury, and 3) determine whether melatonin treatment confers cardioprotection by altering the reperfusion injury salvage kinase (RISK) pathway signalling and the pro-apoptotic p38 MAPK, AMPK and GLUT-4 expression. Male rats weighing 200±20g were randomly allocated to four groups: 1) C, control rats receiving a standard commercial rat chow and drinking water without melatonin; 2) CM, control rats receiving melatonin (4mg/kg/day) in drinking water; 3) D, diet-induced obesity rats, receiving a high calorie diet and drinking water without melatonin; 4) DM, diet-induced obesity rats, receiving melatonin in drinking water. After 16 weeks of treatment and feeding, rats were weighed and blood and myocardial tissue collected to document biochemical and molecular biological changes. Hearts were perfused on the isolated working rat heart perfusion apparatus for the evaluation of myocardial function and infarct size. The Reperfusion Injury Salvage Kinases (RISK) pathway (PKB/Akt (Ser-473), ERK p42/ p44) and p38 MAPK (mitogenactivated protein kinase) were investigated in pre-and post-ischaemic hearts using Western blotting techniques. Post-ischaemic activation of AMPK (5’AMP-activated protein kinase) (Thr- 172) and GLUT-4 (glucose transporter) expression were also investigated. Serum and baseline myocardial glutathione (GSH) content were measured. In addition, serum lipid peroxidation products: thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS), conjugated dienes (CD) and lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH), were also determined. The high-calorie diet caused increases in body weight, visceral adiposity, heart weight, serum insulin, leptin, blood triglycerides, and low HDL-cholesterol levels. Blood glucose levels were similar for both diet fed rats and controls. Myocardial glutathione, serum glutathione, total cholesterol, TBARS, LOOH, CD as well as total cholesterol (TC) levels were not affected by the high calorie diet. Chronic melatonin treatment reduced body weight gain, visceral adiposity, heart weight, blood triglycerides, serum insulin, HOMA index, serum leptin (DM vs D, p<0.01), and increased blood HDL-C in diet treated rats while there was no effect on these parameters in control rats, despite the reduction in body weight, heart weight and visceral adiposity. Melatonin treatment had no effect on myocardial or serum GSH and LOOH in either control or diet animals. It however reduced TBARS and CD in the diet and control groups, respectively. At baseline, chronic melatonin treatment caused a significant increase in phospho-PKB/total PKB ratio and a concomitant reduction in phospho-p38 MAPK/total p38 MAPK ratio of control hearts while there were no such effects on diet-induced-obesity hearts. Infarct size was significantly reduced by melatonin in both diet and control groups (DM: 16.6±2.0%; D: 38.4±2.6% (p < 0.001), and CM: 12.8±1.5%; C: 30.4±1.0%, p<0.001). After coronary artery occlusion and 30 minutes of reperfusion, melatonin increased percentage recovery of aortic output (DM: 28.5±6.5%; D: 6.2±6.2%, p<0.01), cardiac output (DM: 44.4±5.2%; D: 26.6±5.1%, p < 0.01) and total work (DM: 34.5±5.6%; D: 20.4±7.9%, p<0.05) of diet-induced obesity hearts, while having no effect on control hearts. During reperfusion, hearts from melatonin treated rats had increased activation of PKB/Akt (p<0.01), ERK42/44 (p<0.05), and reduced p38 MAPK activation (p<0.05). There was no difference in post-ischaemic activation of AMPK (Thr-172) and GLUT-4 expression in either control or diet fed rats. We successfully demonstrated that chronic melatonin treatment prevented the development of diet-induced metabolic abnormalities and improved ex vivo myocardial function. Melatonin protected the heart against ischaemia-reperfusion injury that was exacerbated in obesity. This was achieved by activation of the RISK pathway. The antioxidant properties of melatonin were involved in these cardioprotective effects.
- ItemThe effects of physical and psychological stress on the behaviour and neurochemistry of rats(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-12) Van Vuuren, Petra J.; Daniels, William M. U.; Du Toit, E. F.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences. Medical Physiology.Stress is considered one of the major factors involved in the pathogenesis of affective disorders, for example, direct and indirect exposure to terrorist attacks or being subjected to subtle victimization. There is a long history of development of procedures to determine anxiety responses in animals in order to find new or better treatments for patients. Prior stress exposure is known to alter the activation response to a subsequent stressor and the means of coping with stress can influence health and disease. This orchestrated process, usually referred to as the “stress response”, involves various mechanisms, which allow the body to make the necessary physical, psychological and the neuro-endocrine adjustments required to cope with the demands of a homeostatic challenge. The communication box method is a useful model to investigate the physiological changes that occur under psychological stress, since it can produce an experimental anxiety based on psychological communication between two or more animals, without the direct physical stress. In this animal model, the psychologically stressed rats are exposed to the visual, olfactory, auditory stimuli (such as struggling, vocalization, defecating, urinating and jumping) from the foot shock rat (Oishi et al., 2003). In the present study, we examined the neuro-endocrine and behavioural responses after different durations of inescapable foot shock and the subsequent effect of citalopram (10 milligram/kilogram, intraperitoneal once a day for 10 days), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in reversing these responses. We have subjected rats to a number of stress paradigms (varying in duration), and assessed the effects thereof on behaviour at two different time points. Physically stressed rats were subjected to 10 unpredicted electric foot shocks (0.5 milliampere), in 10 minutes, while the psychologically stressed rats witnessed everything. The behavioural responses were assessed 5 days and 10 days after the last stress session. The rats were decapitated and corticosterone concentrations were determined one day after the open field and elevated plus-maze tests were performed. The behavioural and endocrine responses in the rats subjected to physical and psychological stress in this study showed that single stress exposure may lead to different outcomes as repetitive stress exposure and that the consequences of stress exposure develop over time and persist for an extended time period. These consequences of direct stress exposure versus indirect stress exposure show a grading in stress intensity and perception, similar to that observed in humans. In the experiment where the rats where treated with citalopram, it showed that citalopram is effective in reversing anxious-like behaviours, but not locomotor deficits. In all the animals basal plasma corticosterone concentrations were comparable and physically and psychologically stressed rats displayed a hyposensitive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis following acute restraint stress. These findings are interesting in a number of ways. It showed that our stress models propose to be useful in elucidating the complex interrelationship between an external event or stressor, and the organism experiencing it. Simultaneously it presents a promising platform for the finding of new or better treatments for patients.
- ItemA pathologic role for angiotensin II and endothelin-1 in cardiac remodelling and ischaemia and reperfusion injury in a rat model of the metabolic syndrome(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-03) Smith, Wayne; Du Toit, E. F.; Moolman, J. A.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences. Medical Physiology.Introduction: Obesity, which is implicated in the development of the metabolic syndrome (MS) is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide. MS significantly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, which includes coronary artery disease. The current absence of animal models of diet induced obesity and the MS makes the investigation of the cardiovascular consequences of MS virtually impossible. As a result the effects of the MS on cardiac function, morphology and susceptibility to ischaemia are not well understood. Aims: We set out to: 1) develop and characterize a rodent model of dietinduced obesity and the MS, 2) investigate the susceptibility of hearts from these animals to ischaemia/reperfusion induced injury and, 3) determine whether angiotensin II (Ang II) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) plays a role in cardiac remodelling and/or the severity of ischaemia and reperfusion injury in this model. Methods: Male Wistar rats were fed a standard rat chow diet or cafeteria diet (CD) for 16 weeks. After the feeding period rats were sacrificed and blood and myocardial tissue samples were collected to document biochemical changes in these animals. Hearts were perfused on the isolated working rat heart perfusion apparatus to assess myocardial mechanical function before and after ischaemia. In a separate series of experiments, hearts underwent coronary artery ligation to determine the incidence and duration of ventricular arrhythmias during ischaemia and reperfusion, using electrocardiography. To assess a possible link between myocardial remodelling and ischaemia/reperfusion injury and myocardial Ang II and ET-1 content, we also measured these peptides under basal conditions and during ischaemia. Two-dimensional targeted Mmode echocardiography was used to assess in vivo myocardial mechanical function in control and obese rats. Results: After 16 weeks on the CD, obese rats satisfied the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for the MS by having visceral obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and an elevated systolic blood pressure, compared to control rats. Circulating Ang II levels, but not ET-1 levels, were elevated in CD fed rats. Obese rats had cardiac hypertrophy and ex vivo basal myocardial mechanical function was depressed in the CD fed rat hearts compared to control rat hearts. CD fed rat hearts had poorer aortic output (AO) recoveries compared to hearts from control rats. These hearts also had a higher incidence and duration of reperfusion arrhythmias. No such functional differences were seen in the in vivo experiments. No differences in basal or ischaemic myocardial Ang II and ET-1 levels were seen in either group. Conclusion: We have developed and characterized a model of diet-induced obesity and the MS. Obesity is associated with cardiac hypertrophy and an increased myocardial susceptibility to ischaemia and reperfusion injury in our model. The hearts from obese rats were also more prone to reperfusion ventricular arrhythmias. As myocardial function was only poorer in the ex vivo obese animal experiments, our data suggests that the obesity associated changes in function observed in the ex vivo studies may be related to the absence of circulating substrates or factors, which are essential for their normal mechanical function.
- ItemPossible mechanisms for levosimendaninduced cardioprotection(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-12) Genis, Amanda; Du Toit, E. F.; Lochner, Amanda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences. Medical Physiology.Background and purpose. To limit ischaemic injury, rapid restoration of coronary blood flow is required, which will in turn reduce infarct size. However, reperfusion itself causes myocyte death – a phenomenon termed lethal reperfusion-induced injury, which limits protection of the ischaemic myocardium. Thus the reperfusion of irreversibly damaged myocytes may accelerate the process of cell necrosis. Additive protection of the ischaemic myocardium in the form of adjunct therapy remains a topic of intensive research. Levosimendan, a calcium sensitizing agent with positive inotropic effects has in several studies been found to alleviate the damaging effects of reperfusion injury. Levosimendan has been shown to be a KATP channel opener. These channels have been implicated to play an important role in ischaemic preconditioning (IPC). With this knowledge, the aim of this study was to determine whether levosimendan and IPC have certain cardioprotective mechanisms in common and whether protection with pharmacological preconditioning could be elicited with levosimendan. In this study, we investigated whether: 1) the isolated guinea pig heart could be protected by ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) and postconditioning (IPostC), 2) the heart could be pharmacologically pre- and postconditioned, using levosimendan (LPC & LPostC), 3) a combination of IPC & LPC had an additive protective effect on the heart, 4) the KATP (both mitochondrial and sarcolemmal) channels are involved in this protection and 5) the pro-survival kinases of the RISK (reperfusion injury salvage kinase) pathway are involved. Experimental approach. Isolated perfused guinea pig hearts were subjected to three different IPC protocols (1x5, 2x5 and 3x5 minutes of ischaemia) or levosimendan (0.1μM) preconditioning, before coronary artery occlusion (CAO – 40min@36.5ºC), followed by 30 minutes of reperfusion. Hearts were also subjected to a combination of IPC & LPC, to establish whether they had additive protective effects. In addition, hearts were pre-treated with levosimendan directly before induction of sustained ischaemia (without washout of the drug – levosimendan pre-treatment (LPT)) for 10min. With the postconditioning protocol, iii the hearts were subjected to 3x30second cycles of ischaemia/reperfusion or levosimendan/vehicle. In a separate series of experiments, hearts were treated with KATP channel blockers (for both sarcolemmal & mitochondrial), before LPC, LPT and LPostC. The endpoints that were measured were: cardiac reperfusion function, myocardial infarct size and RISK pathway expression and phosphorylation (PKB/Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase – ERK42/44). Results. IPC, IPostC, LPC & LPostC decreased myocardial infarct size significantly compared with their controls (21.9±2.2%, 21.4±2.2%, 20.6±3.1% and 20.6±1.8% respectively vs. 46.4±1.8% for controls, p<0.05). The combination of IPC & LPC had no additive protective effect. Pre-treating the hearts with levosimendan (without washout), before index ischaemia, proved to be the most effective method of cardioprotection (infarct size: 5.8±0.9% vs. 46.4±1.8% for controls, p<0.001). With LPT a significant increase (p < 0.05 vs. control) in phosphorylation of ER42/44 was also observed. An increase in the activity of one of the RISK pathway kinases, ERK42/44 seems to be one of the reasons for LPT’s efficacy. Treating the hearts with KATP channel blockers before subjecting them to LPC, LPT & LPostC abolished the protective effects induced by levosimendan, suggesting a role for the sarcolemmal and mitochondrial KATP channels in levosimendan-induced cardioprotection. Conclusions and implications. 1) Isolated guinea pig hearts could be pre- and postconditioned within the setting of ischaemia, 2) Hearts could be pharmacologically pre- and postconditioned with levosimendan, 3) levosimendan pre-treatment is the most effective way to reduce infarct size, possibly acting by increasing the phosphorylation of ERK42/44, 4) Myocardial protection was not increased by combining IPC & LPC (suggesting similar mechanisms of protection), 5) LPC, LPT and LPostC were abolished by both sarcolemmal and mitochondrial KATP channel blockers. .LPC and especially LPT, could be useful before elective cardiac surgery while LPostC may be considered after acute coronary artery events.