Assessment of Bax gene transfer influence on survival of heterotopic cardiac allograft in rats by high-frequency echocardiography / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the value of high-frequency echocardiography in assessing Bax gene transfer influence on survival of heterotopic cardiac allograft in rats.Methods Thirty rat models of heterotopic heart transplantation were established.Group A received heart transplantation only; Group B received cyclosporin (CsA) after operatiom Group C received ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) combined with Bax-shRNA.All rats were tested by high-frequency echocardiography at day 1,3,6 after transplantation.The ultrasound parameters included left ventricular internal dimension diastole (LVIDd),left ventricular internal dimension systole(LVIDs),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),left ventricular thickness (LVT),left ventricular thickening (LVTR) and so on.The pathologic examinations were carried out on five rats at day 6 after echocardiography exam.The other rats in each group were observed for the survival time of cardiac allograft.Results ①The left ventricular long axis view and the apical four chamber view could be displayed clearly by high-frequency echocardiography.②The survival time of allografts in group C was (16.21 ± 5.01)d,which was longer than that in group B [(11.14 ± 1.72)d,P ＜ 0.05] and group A [(7.26 ± 1.50)d,P ＜0.01].③LVT index got higher after transfection.At day 6,LVEF of group A was lower than group B and C markedly(P ＜0.05) while no significant difference was found between group B and C(P ＞0.05).At day 3 and 6,LVT of group A and B were higher than group C (P ＜0.05) while LVTR was lower(P ＜0.05).Conclusions The Bax gene transfer influence on survival of heterotopic cardiac allograft in rats could be evaluated accurately by high-frequency echocardiography which could assess cardiac structure and function.LVT and LVTR can be considered as early evaluation indexes for its high sensitivity over LVEF.