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Bossers GPL, Hagdorn QAJ, Koop AMC, van der Feen DE, van Leusden T, Bartelds B, de Boer RA, Silljé HHW, Berger RMF. Female rats are less prone to clinical heart failure than male rats in a juvenile rat model of right ventricular pressure load. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2022; 322:H994-H1002. [PMID: 35333114 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00071.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Sex is increasingly emerging as determinant of right ventricular (RV) adaptation to abnormal loading conditions. It is unknown, however, whether sex-related differences already occur in childhood. Therefore, this study aimed to assess sex differences in a juvenile model of early RV pressure load by pulmonary artery banding (PAB) during transition from pre- to post-puberty. 3-weeks old rat pups (n=57, 30-45g) were subjected to PAB or sham surgery. Animals were sacrificed either before or after puberty (4 and 8 weeks post-surgery, respectively). Male PAB rats demonstrated failure to thrive already after 4 weeks, whereas females did not. After 8 weeks, female PAB rats showed less clinical symptoms of RV failure than male PAB rats. RV pressure-volume analysis demonstrated increased end-systolic elastance after 4 weeks in females only, and a trend toward preserved end-diastolic elastance in female PAB rats compared to males (p=0.055). Histology showed significantly less RV myocardial fibrosis in female compared to male PAB rats 8 weeks after surgery. Myosin heavy chain 7/6 ratio switch and calcineurin signaling were less pronounced in female PAB rats, compared to males. In this juvenile rat model of RV pressure load, female rats appeared to be less prone to clinical heart failure, compared to males. This was driven by increased RV contractility before puberty, and better preservation of diastolic function with less RV myocardial fibrosis after puberty. These findings show that RV adaptation to increased loading differs between sexes already before the introduction of pubertal hormones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido P L Bossers
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, GRONINGEN, Nederland, Netherlands
| | - Quint A J Hagdorn
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Anne Marie C Koop
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, GRONINGEN, Netherlands
| | - Diederik E van der Feen
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Tom van Leusden
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Beatrijs Bartelds
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen; Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Rudolf A de Boer
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory for Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Herman H W Silljé
- Department of Cardiology, Laboratory for Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Rolf M F Berger
- Center for Congenital Heart Diseases, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
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