1. Repeated sauna therapy attenuates ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats by increasing coronary vascularity of noninfarcted myocardium.
- Author
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Sobajima M, Nozawa T, Shida T, Ohori T, Suzuki T, Matsuki A, and Inoue H
- Subjects
- Actins metabolism, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Atrial Natriuretic Factor genetics, Cardiomegaly physiopathology, Cardiomegaly prevention & control, Chi-Square Distribution, Coronary Vessels metabolism, Coronary Vessels pathology, Disease Models, Animal, Gene Expression Regulation, Hemodynamics, Male, Myocardial Infarction diagnostic imaging, Myocardial Infarction genetics, Myocardial Infarction metabolism, Myocardial Infarction physiopathology, Myocardium metabolism, Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III genetics, Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 metabolism, RNA, Messenger metabolism, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Time Factors, Ultrasonography, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A genetics, Ventricular Function, Left, Ventricular Pressure, Coronary Vessels physiopathology, Myocardial Infarction therapy, Myocardium pathology, Neovascularization, Physiologic, Steam Bath, Ventricular Remodeling
- Abstract
Repeated sauna therapy (ST) increases endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity and improves cardiac function in heart failure as well as peripheral blood flow in ischemic limbs. The present study investigates whether ST can increase coronary vascularity and thus attenuate cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). We induced MI by ligating the left coronary artery of Wistar rats. The rats were placed in a far-infrared dry sauna at 41°C for 15 min and then at 34°C for 20 min once daily for 4 wk. Cardiac hemodynamic, histopathological, and gene analyses were performed. Despite the similar sizes of MI between the ST and non-ST groups (51.4 ± 0.3 vs. 51.1 ± 0.2%), ST reduced left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic (9.7 ± 0.4 vs. 10.7 ± 0.5 mm, P < 0.01) and end-systolic (8.6 ± 0.5 vs. 9.6 ± 0.6 mm, P < 0.01) dimensions and attenuated MI-induced increases in LV end-diastolic pressure. Cross-sectional areas of cardiomyocytes were smaller in ST rats and associated with a significant reduction in myocardial atrial natriuretic peptide mRNA levels. Vascular density was reduced in the noninfarcted myocardium of non-ST rats, and the density of cells positive for CD31 and for α-smooth muscle actin was decreased. These decreases were attenuated in ST rats compared with non-ST rats and associated with increases in myocardial eNOS and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA levels. In conclusion, ST attenuates cardiac remodeling after MI, at least in part, through improving coronary vascularity in the noninfarcted myocardium. Repeated ST might serve as a novel noninvasive therapy for patients with MI.
- Published
- 2011
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