Philipp E Bartko1, Jacob P Dal-Bianco1, J Luis Guerrero2, Jonathan Beaudoin3, Catherine Szymanski4, Dae-Hee Kim5, Margo M Seybolt2, Mark D Handschumacher1, Suzanne Sullivan2, Michael L Garcia2, James S Titus2, Jill Wylie-Sears6, Whitney S Irvin7, Emmanuel Messas8, Albert A Hagège8, Alain Carpentier8, Elena Aikawa7, Joyce Bischoff6, Robert A Levine9. 1. Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. 2. Surgical Cardiovascular Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. 3. Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. 4. Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Departments of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, University Paris Descartes, INSERM Unit 633, Paris, France. 5. Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Cardiology, Asan Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Seoul, South Korea. 6. Vascular Biology Program and Department of Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. 7. Center for Excellence in Vascular Biology, Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. 8. Departments of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, University Paris Descartes, INSERM Unit 633, Paris, France. 9. Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Departments of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, University Paris Descartes, INSERM Unit 633, Paris, France. Electronic address: Levine.Robert@mgh.harvard.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: After myocardial infarction (MI), mitral valve (MV) tethering stimulates adaptive leaflet growth, but counterproductive leaflet thickening and fibrosis augment mitral regurgitation (MR), doubling heart failure and mortality. MV fibrosis post-MI is associated with excessive endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), driven by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β overexpression. In vitro, losartan-mediated TGF-β inhibition reduces EMT of MV endothelial cells. OBJECTIVES: This study tested the hypothesis that profibrotic MV changes post-MI are therapeutically accessible, specifically by losartan-mediated TGF-β inhibition. METHODS: The study assessed 17 sheep, including 6 sham-operated control animals and 11 with apical MI and papillary muscle retraction short of producing MR; 6 of the 11 were treated with daily losartan, and 5 were untreated, with flexible epicardial mesh comparably limiting left ventricular (LV) remodeling. LV volumes, tethering, and MV area were quantified by using three-dimensional echocardiography at baseline and at 60 ± 6 days, and excised leaflets were analyzed by histopathology and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Post-MI LV dilation and tethering were comparable in the losartan-treated and untreated LV constraint sheep. Telemetered sensors (n = 6) showed no significant losartan-induced changes in arterial pressure. Losartan strongly reduced leaflet thickness (0.9 ± 0.2 mm vs. 1.6 ± 0.2 mm; p < 0.05; 0.4 ± 0.1 mm sham animals), TGF-β, and downstream phosphorylated extracellular-signal-regulated kinase and EMT (27.2 ± 12.0% vs. 51.6 ± 11.7% α-smooth muscle actin-positive endothelial cells, p < 0.05; 7.2 ± 3.5% sham animals), cellular proliferation, collagen deposition, endothelial cell activation (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression), neovascularization, and cells positive for cluster of differentiation (CD) 45, a hematopoietic marker associated with post-MI valve fibrosis. Leaflet area increased comparably (17%) in constrained and losartan-treated sheep. CONCLUSIONS: Profibrotic changes of tethered MV leaflets post-MI can be modulated by losartan without eliminating adaptive growth. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms could provide new opportunities to reduce ischemic MR.
BACKGROUND: After myocardial infarction (MI), mitral valve (MV) tethering stimulates adaptive leaflet growth, but counterproductive leaflet thickening and fibrosis augment mitral regurgitation (MR), doubling heart failure and mortality. MV fibrosis post-MI is associated with excessive endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), driven by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β overexpression. In vitro, losartan-mediated TGF-β inhibition reduces EMT of MV endothelial cells. OBJECTIVES: This study tested the hypothesis that profibrotic MV changes post-MI are therapeutically accessible, specifically by losartan-mediated TGF-β inhibition. METHODS: The study assessed 17 sheep, including 6 sham-operated control animals and 11 with apical MI and papillary muscle retraction short of producing MR; 6 of the 11 were treated with daily losartan, and 5 were untreated, with flexible epicardial mesh comparably limiting left ventricular (LV) remodeling. LV volumes, tethering, and MV area were quantified by using three-dimensional echocardiography at baseline and at 60 ± 6 days, and excised leaflets were analyzed by histopathology and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Post-MI LV dilation and tethering were comparable in the losartan-treated and untreated LV constraint sheep. Telemetered sensors (n = 6) showed no significant losartan-induced changes in arterial pressure. Losartan strongly reduced leaflet thickness (0.9 ± 0.2 mm vs. 1.6 ± 0.2 mm; p < 0.05; 0.4 ± 0.1 mm sham animals), TGF-β, and downstream phosphorylated extracellular-signal-regulated kinase and EMT (27.2 ± 12.0% vs. 51.6 ± 11.7% α-smooth muscle actin-positive endothelial cells, p < 0.05; 7.2 ± 3.5% sham animals), cellular proliferation, collagen deposition, endothelial cell activation (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression), neovascularization, and cells positive for cluster of differentiation (CD) 45, a hematopoietic marker associated with post-MI valve fibrosis. Leaflet area increased comparably (17%) in constrained and losartan-treated sheep. CONCLUSIONS: Profibrotic changes of tethered MV leaflets post-MI can be modulated by losartan without eliminating adaptive growth. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms could provide new opportunities to reduce ischemic MR.
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