O'Farrell FM, Mastitskaya S, Hammond-Haley M, Freitas F, Wah WR, Attwell D. Capillary pericytes mediate coronary no-reflow after myocardial ischaemia.
eLife 2017;
6:29280. [PMID:
29120327 PMCID:
PMC5705208 DOI:
10.7554/elife.29280]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
After cardiac ischaemia, a prolonged decrease of coronary microvascular perfusion often occurs even after flow is restored in an upstream artery. This 'no-reflow' phenomenon worsens patient prognosis. In the brain, after stroke, a similar post-ischaemic 'no-reflow' has been attributed to capillary constriction by contractile pericytes. We now show that occlusion of a rat coronary artery, followed by reperfusion, blocks 40% of cardiac capillaries and halves perfused blood volume within the affected region. Capillary blockages colocalised strongly with pericytes, where capillary diameter was reduced by 37%. The pericyte relaxant adenosine increased capillary diameter by 21% at pericyte somata, decreased capillary block by 25% and increased perfusion volume by 57%. Thus, cardiac pericytes constrict coronary capillaries and reduce microvascular blood flow after ischaemia, despite re-opening of the culprit artery. Cardiac pericytes are therefore a novel therapeutic target in ischaemic heart disease.
Heart attacks occur when one of the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle becomes blocked, usually by a blood clot. Doctors unblock the artery and insert an expanding metal cage called a stent to keep it unblocked. This restores blood flow through the artery. Unfortunately, blood flow often does not return to smaller downstream blood vessels called capillaries. This can lead to further damage to the heart.
Scientists have not been able to find a way to reliably open up those capillaries after a heart attack because it is not clear exactly what is keeping them closed. Muscle-like cells called pericytes, which wrap around the capillaries, are one possible culprit for the blockages. Pericytes narrow capillaries in the brain after stroke in animal experiments. These cells are also present on heart capillaries, but scientists do not know much about them.
Now, O’Farrell, Mastitskaya, Hammond-Haley et al. show that pericytes are partly responsible for limiting blood flow in capillaries after a heart attack in rats. In the experiments, blood flow through an artery feeding the hearts of anaesthetized rats was restricted, simulating a heart attack. After the blood flow was later restored, 40% of the animal’s capillaries remained blocked. Many blockages occurred near pericytes that had narrowed the capillary preventing blood flow. Treating the rats with a drug called adenosine, which relaxes the pericytes, reduced capillary blockages and increased blood flow in the heart.
Although adenosine could help to restore blood flow in the capillaries after a heart attack, it may also relax muscles around arteries and lower blood pressure, and so it may not be an ideal treatment. More studies are needed to determine whether drugs that target only the pericytes could complement existing heart attack treatments that unblock the arteries. If these studies are successful, pericyte-targeting drugs might prevent serious complications after a heart attack, including heart failure, heart rhythm abnormalities and future heart attacks.
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