Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-3-6
pubmed:abstractText
Despite intensive therapy, severe septic shock is commonly associated with myocardial dysfunction and death in humans. No new therapies have proven efficiency against cardiovascular alterations in sepsis. Here, we addressed the question of a beneficial effect of pharmacological inhibition of caspases on myocardial dysfunction following endotoxin treatment. Hearts from rats treated with endotoxin (10 mg/kg, intravenously) were isolated 4 h posttreatment for analysis. Assessment of myocardial contractility ex vivo and detection of apoptosis were performed. Hearts from endotoxin-treated rats displayed multiple caspase activities and also typical apoptosis pattern as detected by TUNEL, DNA fragmentation assays, and cytochrome c release as compared with control rats. z-VAD.fmk (3 mg/kg, intravenously), a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor (but not the irrelevant peptide z-FA.fmk), in coinjection with endotoxin, not only reduced caspase activities and nuclear apoptosis but also completely prevented endotoxin-induced myocardial dysfunction evaluated 4 h and even 14 h after endotoxin challenge. These data indicate that caspase activation plays an important role in myocardial cell dysfunction. Moreover, these results suggest that inhibitors of caspases may have important therapeutic applications in sepsis.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1073-449X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
163
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
218-25
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Caspase inhibition prevents cardiac dysfunction and heart apoptosis in a rat model of sepsis.
pubmed:affiliation
INSERM U459, Faculté de Médecine, EA 2689, Pavillon Vancostenobel, Faculté de Médecine, and Département de Physiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Lille Cedex, France.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't