Expression of bcl-2 and bax in hypertrophic myocardium in the spontaneously hypertensive rats / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the change of the expression of apoptotic regulatory protein bcl 2 and bax in genetic hypertension and heart hypertrophy To evaluate the anti apoptotic effect of Valsartan Methods:Thirty SHRs were divided equally into two groups One group was treated with Valsartan 〔20 mg/(kg?d)〕, the other with placebo, with normal Wistar rats as controls The observation period was from 8 week old to 16 week old Expression of bcl 2 and bax in left ventricular myocytes was studied by the techniques of immunohistochemistry and Western blot Results:The expression of bax in SHR+placebo was markedly higher than that of Wistar or SHR+Valsartan, and so was the ratio of bax/ bcl 2 The expression of bcl 2 was similar in the three groups Conclusion:These data suggest that in response to chronic arterial pressure overload , cardiomyocyte specific apoptosis contributes to the transition from compensatory hypertrophy to decompensation Thus, apoptosis may be involved in the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure And Valsartan may reverse such decompensation by inhibiting the expression of bax