Resveratrol Inhibits Right Ventricular Hypertrophy Induced By Monocrotaline In Rats.

Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2009 Jun 29; Yang DL, Zhang HG, Xu YL, Gao YH, Yang XJ, Hao XQ, Li XH1. Resveratrol (RSV), a polyphenol in red wine, shows cardioprotective effects in vitro, such as the inhibition of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by angiotensin II or phenylephrine in rat neonatal myocyte cultures, and the suppression of cardiac fibroblast proliferation. This study was aimed to investigate the protective effects of RSV against monocrotaline (MCT)-induced right ventricular hypertrophy in rats. 2. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given a single injection of MCT (50 mg/kg, sc) and then received treatment with vehicle or RSV (10 and 30 mg/kg, ig, twice daily) for 21 days. Control rats only received normal saline. At the end of treatments, all rats received echocardiography measurements and hemodynamic measurements. The hearts were then subjected to histopathological, untrastructural, and immunohistochemical analysis. 3. MCT produced 33% mortality in model rats, while no mortality occurs when model rats received RSV treatment. MCT increased right ventricular free wall thickness and right ventricular systolic pressure and decreased pulmonary arterial acceleration time at the end of experiment. RSV ameliorated these dynamic changes in a dose-dependent manner. Histologically, MCT produced right ventricular hypertrophy, mitochrondria swollen and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. RSV improved these morphological changes. 4. In conclusion, RSV can inhibit the right ventricular hypertrophy induced by MCT in rats, which is mediated by both direct effect on cardiomyocytes and indirect effect via reducing pulmonary hypertension.