OBJECTIVES: The main objective of the present study was to determine whether low physiological levels of estrogen directly protect cardiac cells against metabolic stress. BACKGROUND: The beneficial effect of estrogens on the cardiovascular system has been traditionally ascribed to decrease in peripheral vascular resistance and to an antiatherogenic action. Whether physiological concentrations of 17beta-estradiol (E2) are also able to protect cardiomyocytes against metabolic insult directly is unknown. METHODS: Isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes were loaded with the Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dye Fluo-3 and imaged by a digital epifluorescence imaging system. In cardiac cells preincubated with hormones and/or drugs for 8 h, metabolic stress was induced by addition and removal of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). RESULTS: In cardiomyocytes, a 3-min-long exposure to chemical hypoxia, followed by reoxygenation, produced intracellular Ca2+ loading independently of gender (female: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter; male: 778 +/- 97 nmol/liter). Pretreatment with E2 (10 nmol/liter) significantly reduced the magnitude of hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced Ca2+ loading in female (E2-treated: 298 +/- 39 nmol/liter; untreated: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter), but not in male (E2-treated: 1029 +/- 177 nmol/liter; untreated: 778 +/- 97 nmol/liter) cardiac cells. The protective action of E2 was not mimicked by the inactive estrogen stereoisomer, 10 nmol/liter 17alpha estradiol (17alpha estradiol-treated: 886 +/- 122 nmol/liter; untreated: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter), and was abolished by tamoxifen (1 micromol/liter), which acts as an antagonist of E2 on estrogen receptors (E2 plus tamoxifen-treated: 702 +/- 98 nmol/liter; untreated: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter). CONCLUSIONS: In a gender-dependent manner, E2 directly protects cardiac cells against hypoxia-reoxygenation injury through an estrogen receptor-mediated mechanism. Such property of E2 may contribute to cardioprotection in the female gender.
OBJECTIVES: The main objective of the present study was to determine whether low physiological levels of estrogen directly protect cardiac cells against metabolic stress. BACKGROUND: The beneficial effect of estrogens on the cardiovascular system has been traditionally ascribed to decrease in peripheral vascular resistance and to an antiatherogenic action. Whether physiological concentrations of 17beta-estradiol (E2) are also able to protect cardiomyocytes against metabolic insult directly is unknown. METHODS: Isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes were loaded with the Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dye Fluo-3 and imaged by a digital epifluorescence imaging system. In cardiac cells preincubated with hormones and/or drugs for 8 h, metabolic stress was induced by addition and removal of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). RESULTS: In cardiomyocytes, a 3-min-long exposure to chemical hypoxia, followed by reoxygenation, produced intracellular Ca2+ loading independently of gender (female: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter; male: 778 +/- 97 nmol/liter). Pretreatment with E2 (10 nmol/liter) significantly reduced the magnitude of hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced Ca2+ loading in female (E2-treated: 298 +/- 39 nmol/liter; untreated: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter), but not in male (E2-treated: 1029 +/- 177 nmol/liter; untreated: 778 +/- 97 nmol/liter) cardiac cells. The protective action of E2 was not mimicked by the inactive estrogen stereoisomer, 10 nmol/liter 17alpha estradiol (17alpha estradiol-treated: 886 +/- 122 nmol/liter; untreated: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter), and was abolished by tamoxifen (1 micromol/liter), which acts as an antagonist of E2 on estrogen receptors (E2 plus tamoxifen-treated: 702 +/- 98 nmol/liter; untreated: 729 +/- 88 nmol/liter). CONCLUSIONS: In a gender-dependent manner, E2 directly protects cardiac cells against hypoxia-reoxygenation injury through an estrogen receptor-mediated mechanism. Such property of E2 may contribute to cardioprotection in the female gender.