gw9662 and Heart-Diseases

Previous studies have shown that the activation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) contributed to the cardiac fibrosis in diabetic patients. Although it had been reported that statins have beneficial effects on cardiac fibrosis in hypertension and myocardial ischemia models, their effects on AGEs models have not been studied. We aimed to investigate the effects of atorvastatin (Ator) on the AGEs-induced cardiac fibrosis both in vitro and vivo.. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control, AGEs, Ator or AGEs+Ator. The cardiac function was evaluated with the echocardiography at the second and the third month. Fibrosis area, α-SMA and RAGE expression in cardiac tissue were measured. For in vitro study, rat cardiac fibroblasts were treated with PD98059 (ERK inhibitor), Ator or Ator+GW9662 (PPAR-γ antagonist), and then were stimulated with AGEs. Fibroblasts proliferation, ERK1/2, phosphorylated ERK1/2, α-SMA, and RAGE expression were studied.. Compared with the control group, in vivo treatment with Ator significantly retarded the AGEs-induced diastolic function and attenuated cardiac fibrosis, α-SMA, and RAGE over expression induced by AGEs. Consistently, Ator prominently downregulated RAGE and α-SMA, while inhibited phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and fibroblast proliferation induced by AGEs in vitro. The GW9662 neutralized these effects of Ator on cardiac fibroblasts stimulated by AGEs.. In this study, we demonstrated that AGEs-induced fibroblast proliferation and differentiation were dependent on AGEs-RAGE-ERK1/2 pathway and that atorvastatin could block this pathway via activating PPAR-γ.

Topics: Actins; Anilides; Animals; Atorvastatin; Cell Proliferation; Cells, Cultured; Down-Regulation; Fibrosis; Glycation End Products, Advanced; Heart Diseases; Heart Function Tests; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; Male; MAP Kinase Signaling System; PPAR gamma; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products; Ultrasonography

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) transcriptionally modulates fat metabolism and also plays a role in pathological conditions such as cancer, neurodegenerative disease and inflammation. PPARγ imaging agents are potential tools for investigating these diseases.. Four analogs of GW9662, a PPARγ antagonist, with different fluorine-containing substituents at the para-position of the aniline ring were synthesized and evaluated using two different receptor binding assays for measuring PPARγ affinity. Micro-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging studies were performed in a transgenic mouse model having a heart-specific overexpression of PPARγ.. All four analogs were found to have binding affinities that were comparable to or better than the reference antagonist, GW9662, using a scintillation proximity assay (SPA). However, only the chloro-based analogs (compounds 3 and 4) had activity in a whole-cell assay measuring activation of the PPARγ/retinoid X receptor complex. The microPET imaging studies in an MHC-PPARγ transgenic mouse model showed high uptake and PPARγ-specific binding for the irreversible antagonist [(18)F]3, whereas the corresponding reversible methoxy analog ([(18)F]5) displayed only nonspecific uptake in heart.. The results of this preliminary study show that the irreversible antagonist [(18)F]3 may represent a novel strategy for imaging PPARγ in vivo with PET.

Topics: Anilides; Animals; Biological Assay; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Fluorine Radioisotopes; Heart; Heart Diseases; Ligands; Male; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Positron-Emission Tomography; PPAR gamma; Rats; Rats, Zucker; Retinoid X Receptors; Tissue Distribution