PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Olivetti

Publications and source records attributed to G Olivetti.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Myocardial infarction and the myocyte IGF1 autocrine system.

To determine the effects of acute myocardial infarction on the extent and distribution of mural stress on surviving myocardial tissue, coronary artery occlusion was surgically produced in rats. Following haemodynamic measurements in vivo, the characteristics of cardiac anatomy were determined and found to consist of an increase in mid-chamber lumenal diameter and a decrease in wall thickness. The combination of these phenomena resulted in an eight-fold increase in diastolic wall stress on the remaining viable portion of the wall and severe impairment of left and right ventricular performance. Since insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) and its receptor (IGF1R) are required for cell growth in vitro, the possibility was raised that an autocrine IGF1-IGF1R system may be present in vivo and may become activated in viable ventricular myocytes shortly after infarction. Therefore, the unaffected myocytes of the left ventricle were enzymatically dissociated and the expression of IGF1R and IGF1 mRNAs were measured at 12 h and at 1, 2-3, and 7 days after surgery. The level of IGF1R mRNA increased at 12 h and remained elevated at 1 and 2-3 days following coronary artery ligation. In addition, an increased level of IGF1R protein was found on these cells. This phenomenon was coupled with the enhanced expression of IGF1 mRNA in the muscle cells at all points. Thus, the marked elevation in ventricular loading after coronary occlusion may activate the IGF1-IGF1R autocrine system of the unaffected cells, modulating the cellular growth processes implicated in short-term ventricular remodelling of the infarcted heart.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Stretch-induced programmed myocyte cell death.

To determine the effects of loading on active and passive tensions, programmed cell death, superoxide anion formation, the expression of Fas on myocytes, and side-to-side slippage of myocytes, papillary muscles were exposed to 7-8 and 50 mN/mm2 and these parameters were measured over a 3-h period. Overstretching produced a 21- and a 2.4-fold increase in apoptotic myocyte and nonmyocyte cell death, respectively. Concurrently, the generation of reactive oxygen species increased 2.4-fold and the number of myocytes labeled by Fas protein 21-fold. Moreover, a 15% decrease in the number of myocytes included in the thickness of the papillary muscle was found in combination with a 7% decrease in sarcomere length and the inability of muscles to maintain stable levels of passive and active tensions. The addition of the NO-releasing drug, C87-3754, prevented superoxide anion formation, programmed cell death, and the alterations in active and passive tensions with time of overloaded papillary muscles. In conclusion, overstretching appears to be coupled with oxidant stress, expression of Fas, programmed cell death, architectural rearrangement of myocytes, and impairment in force development of the myocardium.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Cellular basis of ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats.

The remodeling of the spared non-ischemic left ventricular myocardium after different time intervals from the occlusion of the left coronary artery was examined in rats. In the presence of large infarcts, ventricular failure developed two to three days after surgery, because of chamber dilation and thinning of the wall, resulting in an average 7.5-fold increase in diastolic stress on the surviving myocardium. Mural thinning of the ventricular wall remote from and bordering the infarction occurred through side-to-side slippage of myocytes and capillaries within the wall. Although an average hypertrophic growth of 22% of the spared myocytes has been found, this amount of hypertrophy was insufficient to restore normal myocardial function. Long-term cardiac restructuring after infarction was characterized by the persistence of chamber dilatation and thinning of the ventricular wall. In addition to the side-to-side slippage, lengthening of the myocytes was an important cause of ventricular changes. As the reactive hypertrophy of the unaffected ventricle was insufficient to re-establish the ratio of ventricular mass to chamber volume, the diastolic stress remained elevated and decompensated eccentric ventricular hypertrophy developed. The anatomical remodeling of the spared left ventricular myocardium is an important conditioning factor in the short- and long-term outcome of ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Effects of an early treatment with lisinopril and isosorbide-5-mononitrate on hemodynamics and late ventricular remodelling in rats with 9-week myocardial infarction.

This study was undertaken to assess whether the converting enzyme inhibitor lisinopril, and the long-acting nitrate, isosorbide-5-mononitrate, affect left ventricle dysfunction and anatomical remodelling in rats with myocardial infarction. Lisinopril, isosorbide-5-mononitrate or vehicle were given to rats (n = 10-14 per group) immediately after coronary artery occlusion (by an intravenous bolus) and then for nine weeks (in drinking water). At the end of the study, left ventricular pressures were measured, the heart arrested in diastole, and infarct size, left ventricular chamber volume and wall thicknesses measured. Lisinopril significantly lowered systemic blood pressure and left ventricular systolic pressure in rats with small (< 15% scarred tissue of the left ventricle) and large (> 15%) infarcts; the weight of the left ventricle (including the septum) was reduced by 24% and 28% in animals with small and large infarcts, respectively. Lisinopril lowered left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (by 33% and 39%) and chamber volume (by 4% and 34%) in rats with small and large infarcts, respectively, compared with controls (NS). The combined anatomical and hemodynamic changes led to a reduction of the circumferential wall stress by 20% and 44% in lisinopril-treated rats with small and large infarcts, respectively (NS). No significant changes were seen in the nitrate-treated hearts compared with controls. Lisinopril, given early after myocardial infarction and continued for nine weeks, significantly affected cardiac hemodynamics and ventricular weights in rats with infarcts of different sizes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors↗
PubMed1995

Ventricular remodeling in global ischemia.

To determine the effects of chronic constriction of the left coronary artery on the function and structure of the heart, coronary artery narrowing was surgically induced in rats and ventricular pump performance, extent and distribution of myocardial damage, and the hypertrophic and hyperplastic response of myocytes were examined. Alterations in cardiac hemodynamics were found in all rats, but the characteristics of the physiological properties of the heart allowed a separation of the animals into two groups which exhibited left ventricular dysfunction and failure, respectively. Left ventricular hypertrophy occurred in both groups and was characterized by ventricular dilatation and wall thinning which were more severe in the failing animals. Multiple foci of myocardial damage across the wall were seen in all animals but tissue injury was more prominent in the endomyocardium and in failing rats. The anatomical and hemodynamic changes resulted in a significant increase in diastolic wall stress which paralleled the depression in ventricular performance. Myocyte cell loss and myocyte cellular hypertrophy were more severe with ventricular failure than with dysfunction. Finally, diastolic overload appeared to be coupled with activation of the DNA synthetic machinery of myocytes and nuclear mitotic division. In conclusion, a fixed lesion of the left coronary artery leads to abnormalities in cardiac dynamics with marked increases in diastolic wall stress and extensive ventricular remodeling in spite of compensatory myocyte cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia in the remaining viable tissue.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Myocyte nuclear mitotic division and programmed myocyte cell death characterize the cardiac myopathy induced by rapid ventricular pacing in dogs.

BACKGROUND: Observations in humans have raised the possibility that idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is characterized by myocyte cell loss and cell proliferation, which contribute to wall thinning and chamber dilation. Moreover, the mechanism of myocyte cell death in this patient population has been unclear. Because rapid ventricular pacing in dogs leads to a dilated myopathy that mimics the idiopathic form in man, this animal model was used to demonstrate whether myocyte nuclear mitotic division and programmed myocyte cell death occur in this setting. Additionally, the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Fas protein in myocytes was examined as a molecular indicator of the activation of the cell cycle and apoptotic cell death, respectively. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Mongrel dogs were chronically instrumented for measurements of systemic hemodynamics and for left ventricular pacing. At sacrifice, myocardial samples were obtained for the estimation of the number of myocytes and interstitial cells showing mitosis and for the detection of DNA laddering. In addition, the number of myocyte nuclei exhibiting DNA strand breaks, as well as the frequency of myocytes labeled by PCNA and Fas protein, was determined. Finally, the distribution of nuclei in enzymatically dissociated myocytes was evaluated. RESULTS: Pacing-induced heart failure was characterized by DNA fragmentation and by 3700 myocytes per million cells undergoing apoptotic cell death. This phenomenon was accompanied by 11,000 cells per million expressing Fas protein. Concurrently, 22 and 17 myocytes and interstitial cells per million showed nuclear mitotic division, whereas no changes in the relative proportions of mononucleated and multinucleated myocytes were detected. Moreover, PCNA-labeled myocytes accounted for 40,000 cells per million. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the induction of PCNA and Fas may be linked to the activation of myocyte proliferation and programmed cell death in the myocardium with rapid ventricular pacing, and these two cellular responses may play a key role in the development of the congestive dilated myopathy.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Upregulation of IGF1, IGF1-receptor, and late growth related genes in ventricular myocytes acutely after infarction in rats.

To determine the effects of acute myocardial infarction on the expression of insulin-like growth factor1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor1 receptors (IGF-1R) on the surviving myocytes of the left and right ventricles, large infarcts were produced in rats and the animals sacrificed 2 days later. Hemodynamic measurements of left and right ventricular pressures, +dP/dt and -dP/dt, and central venous pressure documented that coronary occlusion was associated with a severe impairment of cardiac function. By employing reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR), a low level of expression of IGF-1R mRNA was detected in myocytes from sham-operated rats. Acute myocardial infarction was found to enhance by nearly twofold the message for IGF-1R in viable myocytes biventricularly. Moreover, IGF1 mRNA increased 4.3-fold and 9.4-fold in left and right myocytes, respectively. In order to establish whether the upregulation of IGF1 and IGF-1R with infarction was coupled with induction of late growth related genes, which are known to be implicated in DNA replication and mitotic division, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and histone-H3 expression was assessed by Northern blot and RTPCR. The level of expression of PCNA mRNA was found to be increased 3.9-fold and 2.4-fold in left and right myocytes, respectively from infarcted hearts. Corresponding increments in histone-H3 mRNA were 25.5-fold and 5.3-fold, respectively. However, PCNA protein as detected by immunoperoxidase staining was restricted to a limited number of myocyte nuclei adjacent to the necrotic myocardium of the left ventricle. In conclusion, acute myocardial infarction is associated with enhanced expression of IGF1 and IGF-1R on stressed myocytes, and this phenomenon may activate genes essential for DNA synthesis, possibly affecting myocyte growth. These processes may be fundamental for the reconstitution of tissue mass and amelioration of function after infarction.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Acute myocardial infarction leads to upregulation of the IGF-1 autocrine system, DNA replication, and nuclear mitotic division in the remaining viable cardiac myocytes.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and its receptor (IGF-1R) are required for cell proliferation in vitro, raising the possibility that an autocrine IGF-1-IGF-1R system may be present in vivo and become activated in the viable ventricular myocytes shortly after infarction. Therefore, following the in vivo documentation of left ventricular failure in rats subjected to occlusion of the left coronary artery, the unaffected myocytes of the left ventricle were enzymatically dissociated and the expression of IGF-1R and IGF-1 mRNAs were measured at 12 h and at 1, 2-3, and 7 days after surgery. The level of expression of IGF-1R mRNA increased at 12 h and remained elevated at 1 and 2-3 days following coronary ligation. In addition, an increased level of IGF-1R protein on these cells was found. This phenomenon was coupled with the enhanced expression of IGF-1 mRNA in the muscle cells at all intervals. Myocardial infarction was also accompanied by an upregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) mRNA in myocytes and the detection of PCNA protein in nearly 1% of the cells. Similarly, bromodeoxyuridine labeling demonstrated that a comparable number of myocytes was positively stained. Finally, mitotic images in myocytes were observed. Thus, the IGF-1R-IGF-1 autocrine system may modulate myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the failing heart.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Myocyte nuclear and possible cellular hyperplasia contribute to ventricular remodeling in the hypertrophic senescent heart in humans.

OBJECTIVES: The present investigation was designed to evaluate the growth reserve capacity of the aged and senescent myocardium. BACKGROUND: Aging affects the ability of the heart to sustain alterations in ventricular loading, and this phenomenon may be coupled with attenuation of the hypertrophic reaction of the myocardium. However, because myocyte cellular hyperplasia has been documented experimentally in the old heart, a similar adaptation may also occur in humans and play a role in this process. METHODS: The changes in number and size of ventricular myocytes were measured quantitatively in pathologic hearts of elderly subjects. Morphometric methodologies were applied to the analysis of 13 hypertrophic hearts obtained at autopsy from patients 80 +/- 4 (mean +/- SD) years old. An identical number of nonhypertrophic hearts collected from subjects 76 +/- 7 years old were used as control hearts. RESULTS: A 71% increase in left ventricular weight was associated with a 33% increase in average myocyte cell volume per nucleus and a 36% augmentation in the total number of myocyte nuclei in the ventricular myocardium. However, a 55% increase in right ventricular weight was the result of a 59% increase in the aggregate number of myocyte nuclei, with no change in myocyte cell volume. These cellular processes were associated with a 95% and 83% enlargement of the myocardial interstitium in the left and right ventricle, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Myocyte nuclear and possibly cellular hyperplasia appear to be the prevailing growth mechanism of the overloaded aging myocardium. Proliferation of myocyte nuclei and connective tissue accumulation are the major determinants of ventricular remodeling in the hypertrophic senescent heart.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Myocyte cellular hypertrophy is responsible for ventricular remodelling in the hypertrophied heart of middle aged individuals in the absence of cardiac failure.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to measure changes in the numbers and size of ventricular myocytes in human hearts with marked ventricular hypertrophy and no clear signs of cardiac failure, to determine whether myocyte cellular hypertrophy is the only factor involved in the increase in cardiac mass. METHODS: Morphometric techniques were applied to estimate the number of myocyte nuclei per unit volume of myocardium which, in combination with the determination of the volume percent of myocytes, allowed the computation of the average myocyte cell volume per nucleus and total number of myocyte nuclei in the ventricles. Subsequently, the volume fraction of replacement fibrosis in the tissue was assessed and absolute component volumes in the ventricles obtained. RESULTS: Eight hypertrophied human hearts, weight 561(SD 68) g, were collected at necropsy from hypertensive patients who died from non-cardiac causes and were compared with eight normal hearts, weight 387(37) g, obtained from healthy individuals who also died from non-cardiac causes. With cardiac hypertrophy, left and right ventricular weight increased by 53% and 57%, whereas myocyte cell volume increased by 112% and 84%, respectively. The disproportion between the increase in ventricular weight and the increase in myocyte volume was due to a 30% and 16% loss in left and right ventricular myocytes following hypertensive hypertrophy. Myocyte loss also provoked a 319% and a 188% increase in the amount of replacement fibrosis in the left and right ventricular myocardium. These tissue and cellular processes resulted in an expansion in ventricular mass which exceeded the thickening of the wall so that an increase in cavitary volume occurred in both ventricles. CONCLUSIONS: Myocyte cellular hypertrophy is responsible for ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive cardiomyopathy in its compensated stage. Myocyte loss precedes the impairment in ventricular pump function and may be implicated in the initiation of ventricular maladaptation.

Cardiomegaly↗
PubMed1994

Effects of aging on quantitative structural properties of coronary vasculature and microvasculature in rats.

To determine whether the alterations in coronary vascular resistance with aging have a structural basis, the quantitative properties of the intramural branches of the coronary circulation and capillary network were measured in Fischer 344 rats at 4, 12, 20, and 29 mo. Physiological measurements demonstrated that a severe impairment in cardiac pump function developed with age, leading to the occurrence of ventricular failure at 29 mo. Morphometrically, the length densities of resistance vessels from 6 to 20 microns in luminal diameter markedly decreased at 12 mo, and this change persisted at 20 and 29 mo. This phenomenon affected the inner, middle, and outer layers of the left ventricular wall. In contrast, capillary luminal volume percentage, capillary numerical density, and average diffusion distance for oxygen in the left and right myocardium were altered only at 20 mo, whereas values comparable to those at 4 mo were found at 12 and 29 mo. The preservation of these capillary characteristics in the heart was due to a significant amount of capillary proliferation. In conclusion, aging effects lead to rarefaction of coronary arterioles in the myocardium, which may impair coronary resistance and reserve without altering the capillary microvasculature and the oxygenation potential of the old and senescent heart.

Aging↗
PubMed1994

Structural basis of end-stage failure in ischemic cardiomyopathy in humans.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic cardiomyopathy is characterized by myocyte loss, reactive cellular hypertrophy, and ventricular scarring. However, the relative contribution of these tissue and cellular processes to late failure remains to be determined. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ten hearts were obtained from individuals undergoing cardiac transplantation as a result of chronic coronary artery disease in its terminal stage. An identical number of control hearts were collected at autopsy from patients who died from causes other than cardiovascular disease, and morphometric methodologies were applied to the analysis of the left and right ventricular myocardium. Left ventricular hypertrophy evaluated as a change in organ weight, aggregate myocyte mass, and myocyte cell volume per nucleus showed increases of 85%, 47%, and 103%, respectively. Corresponding increases in the right ventricle were 75%, 74%, and 112%. Myocyte loss, which accounted for 28% and 30% in the left and right ventricles, was responsible for the difference in the assessment of myocyte hypertrophy at the ventricular, tissue, and cellular levels. Left ventricular muscle cell hypertrophy was accomplished through a 16% and 51% increase in myocyte diameter and length, whereas right ventricular myocyte hypertrophy was the consequence of a 13% and 67% increase in these linear dimensions, respectively. Moreover, a 36% reduction in the number of myocytes included in the thickness of the left ventricular wall was found. Collagen accumulation in the form of segmental, replacement, and interstitial fibrosis comprised an average 28% and 13% of the left and right ventricular myocardia, respectively. The combination of cell loss and myocardial fibrosis, myocyte lengthening, and mural slippage of cells resulted in 4.6-fold expansion of left ventricular cavitary volume and a 56% reduction in the ventricular mass-to-chamber volume ratio. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the contention that both myocyte and collagen compartments participate in the development of decompensated eccentric ventricular hypertrophy in the cardiomyopathic heart of ischemic origin.

Cardiomyopathy, Dilated↗
PubMed1994

Myocyte cellular hyperplasia and myocyte cellular hypertrophy contribute to chronic ventricular remodeling in coronary artery narrowing-induced cardiomyopathy in rats.

To determine whether cardiac failure produced by chronic coronary artery stenosis was associated with the activation of myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the myocardium, the changes in number and size of left ventricular myocytes were measured in rats 3 months after surgery. The hypertrophied left ventricle was found to possess 44%, 32%, 49%, and 48% fewer mononucleated, binucleated, trinucleated, and tetranucleated myocytes, respectively. In contrast, the hypertrophied right ventricle contained 1.49 x 10(6) more myocytes as a result of a 2.1-fold, 1.4-fold, and 1.4-fold increase in mononucleated, binucleated, and tetranucleated myocytes. Myocyte cell volume was seen to increase 49% and 21% in left and right ventricular myocytes, respectively. The process of myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the right ventricular myocardium was accompanied by capillary proliferation, and these events were responsible for the parallel addition of newly formed cells and capillaries within the wall and mural thickening. Moreover, the in-series insertion of new myocytes contributed to right ventricular dilatation after coronary artery stenosis. In view of the fact that extensive myocardial damage and cell loss may have masked the phenomenon of myocyte cellular hyperplasia in the left ventricle, the presence of DNA synthesis in myocyte nuclei was evaluated at 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months after coronary artery stenosis. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling markedly increased in myocyte nuclei of both ventricles, reaching its peak at 1 and 2 weeks. BrdU labeling of nonmyocyte nuclei also increased but mostly at 2 weeks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1994

End-stage cardiac failure in humans is coupled with the induction of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and nuclear mitotic division in ventricular myocytes.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a late growth-regulated gene that is expressed at the G1-S boundary of the cell cycle and is required for DNA synthesis and cell proliferation. Since quantitative results suggest that myocyte hyperplasia occurs in the decompensated human heart, we postulated that induction of the PCNA gene may be present in the failing heart in humans. PCNA protein was detected in myocardial samples obtained from the left and right ventricles of patients with congestive heart failure. Endomyocardial biopsies collected from donor subjects were used as control tissue. The percentage of positively stained myocyte nuclei in the ventricles was established by using PCNA monoclonal antibody and the immunoperoxidase technique. The localization of PCNA in myocytes was confirmed by alpha-sarcomeric actin antibody staining. PCNA labeling was present in left ventricular myocytes of 29 of the 32 hearts examined. In the right ventricle, 24 of the 29 samples showed positive staining. In a subset of 25 patients, the percentage of PCNA-labeled myocyte nuclei was measured and found to constitute 49 +/- 22% of left ventricular myocytes. A similar analysis for the right ventricle, conducted in 21 patients, showed that 49 +/- 19% of the myocyte nuclei exhibited PCNA protein. In addition, mitotic figures in myocytes were documented. A quantitative analysis of this cellular process revealed that 11 myocyte nuclei per 1 million cells exhibited mitotic images in chronic heart failure. Immediately after myocardial infarction, two cells per million showed mitotic division, and this phenomenon was restricted to the region adjacent to the necrotic tissue. No PCNA labeling or nuclear mitotic images were detected in the ventricular myocardium of control subjects. Thus, the observation that diffuse PCNA labeling and myocyte mitotic division are present in hearts with end-stage failure strongly suggests that adult ventricular myocytes are not terminally differentiated cells and that myocyte cellular hyperplasia may constitute a growth reserve mechanism of the diseased heart.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Effects of genetic hypertension and nutritional anaemia on ventricular remodelling and myocardial damage in rats.

OBJECTIVE: In order to determine whether alterations in cardiac function and structure occur early in life in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and whether the addition of a volume load would affect myocardial growth and haemodynamic performance, SHR were exposed to an iron and copper deficient diet for 12 weeks (SHR-A) and compared with untreated SHR and Wistar Kyoto controls (WKY). RESULTS: Systolic arterial blood pressure increased in SHR, whereas nutritional anaemia prevented the rise of blood pressure in SHR-A. The diet employed provoked a severe hypochromic microcytic anaemia with a marked reduction in blood viscosity and increased volume load on the heart in SHR-A. Genetically determined hypertension alone induced a 16% increase in left ventricular weight and an increase in left ventricular peak systolic pressure (LVPSP) and +dP/dt. The superimposition of anaemia resulted in a 43% expansion in left ventricular weight with a decrease in LVPSP and +dP/dt, and an increase in left ventricular end diastolic pressure. Wall thickening and a preservation of chamber volume occurred in SHR, while SHR-A had a degree of ventricular dilatation which exceeded the extent of wall thickening. However, genetic hypertension was accompanied by myocardial tissue injury which was fully prevented by the addition of nutritional anaemia. Moreover, the capillary volume was decreased in SHR and increased in SHR-A. CONCLUSIONS: Genetically determined hypertension in combination with anaemia results in eccentric ventricular hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction in spite of an increase in capillary luminal volume and limited structural damage.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗