Long-term stimulation of adenosine A2b receptors begun after myocardial infarction prevents cardiac remodeling in rats

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 114; no. 18; pp. 1923 - 1932
• Main Authors: WAKENO, Masakatsu, MINAMINO, Tetsuo, KOMAMURA, Kazuo, TAKASHIMA, Seiji, MOCHIZUKI, Naoki, KITAKAZE, Masafumi, SEGUCHI, Osamu, OKAZAKI, Hidetoshi, TSUKAMOTO, Osamu, OKADA, Ken-Ichiro, HIRATA, Akio, FUJITA, Masashi, ASANUMA, Hiroshi, KIM, Jiyoong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 31-10-2006
• Subjects: 2-Chloroadenosine - pharmacology; 2-Chloroadenosine - therapeutic use; Acetamides - pharmacology; Adenosine A2 Receptor Agonists; Adenosine A2 Receptor Antagonists; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cardiomegaly - pathology; Collagen - analysis; Coronary heart disease; Diseases of the peripheral vessels. Diseases of the vena cava. Miscellaneous; Fibrosis; Heart; Heart Ventricles - diagnostic imaging; Heart Ventricles - pathology; Male; Matrix Metalloproteinases - genetics; Matrix Metalloproteinases - metabolism; Medical sciences; Myocardial Infarction - drug therapy; Myocardial Infarction - pathology; Myocardial Infarction - physiopathology; Myocardium - metabolism; Neurology; Purinergic P1 Receptor Antagonists; Purines - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Theophylline - analogs & derivatives; Theophylline - pharmacology; Ultrasonography; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Ventricular Function, Left - drug effects; Ventricular Remodeling - drug effects; Myocardial infarction; Heart failure; Purine nucleoside; Adenosine; remodeling; Rat; Rodentia; Cardiovascular disease; Myocardial disease; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Heart disease; Animal; Adenosine receptor
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.106.630087

Adenosine inhibits proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts and hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes, both of which may play crucial roles in cardiac remodeling. In the present study, we investigated whether chronic stimulation of adenosine receptors begun after myocardial infarction (MI) prevents cardiac remodeling.
MI was produced in Wistar rats by permanent ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. One week after the onset of MI, animals were randomized into 8 groups: vehicle, dipyridamole (DIP; the adenosine uptake inhibitor, 50 mg/kg), 2-chroloadenosine (CADO; the stable analogue of adenosine, 2 mg/kg), and CADO in the presence of the nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist 8-sulfophenyltheophylline (8-SPT) or the selective antagonist for adenosine A1, A2a, A2b, or A3 receptor. Three weeks after treatment, hemodynamic and echocardiographic parameters in the DIP and CADO groups were significantly improved compared with the vehicle group. These hemodynamic and echocardiographic improvements were blunted by either 8-SPT or the selective adenosine A2b antagonist MRS1754 but not by the selective antagonists for other subtypes of adenosine receptors. The collagen volume fraction was smaller, and gene expression of the molecules associated with cardiac remodeling such as matrix metalloproteinase in noninfarcted areas was reduced in the DIP and CADO groups compared with the vehicle group, both of which were attenuated by either 8-SPT or MRS1754.
Long-term stimulation of adenosine A2b receptors begun after MI attenuates cardiac fibrosis in the noninfarcted myocardium and improves cardiac function. Drugs that stimulate adenosine A2b receptors or increase adenosine levels are new candidates for preventing cardiac remodeling after MI.