1
|
Kheyfets VO, Dufva MJ, Boehm M, Tian X, Qin X, Tabakh JE, Truong U, Ivy D, Spiekerkoetter E. The left ventricle undergoes biomechanical and gene expression changes in response to increased right ventricular pressure overload. Physiol Rep 2021; 8:e14347. [PMID: 32367677 PMCID: PMC7198956 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.14347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) results in right ventricular (RV) pressure overload and eventual failure. Current research efforts have focused on the RV while overlooking the left ventricle (LV), which is responsible for mechanically assisting the RV during contraction. The objective of this study is to evaluate the biomechanical and gene expression changes occurring in the LV due to RV pressure overload in a mouse model. Nine male mice were divided into two groups: (a) pulmonary arterial banding (PAB, N = 4) and (b) sham surgery (Sham, N = 5). Tagged and steady‐state free precision cardiac MRI was performed on each mouse at 1, 4, and 7 weeks after surgery. At/week7, the mice were euthanized following right/left heart catheterization with RV/LV tissue harvested for histology and gene expression (using RT‐PCR) studies. Compared to Sham mice, the PAB group revealed a significantly decreased LV and RV ejection fraction, and LV maximum torsion and torsion rate, within the first week after banding. In the PAB group, there was also a slight but significant increase in LV perivascular fibrosis, which suggests elevated myocardial stress. LV fibrosis was also accompanied with changes in gene expression in the hypertensive group, which was correlated with LV contractile mechanics. In fact, principal component (PC) analysis of LV gene expression effectively separated Sham and PAB mice along PC2. Changes in LV contractile mechanics were also significantly correlated with unfavorable changes in RV contractile mechanics, but a direct causal relationship was not established. In conclusion, a purely biomechanical insult of RV pressure overload resulted in biomechanical and transcriptional changes in both the RV and LV. Given that the RV relies on the LV for contractile energy assistance, considering the LV could provide prognostic and therapeutic targets for treating RV failure in PH.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vitaly O Kheyfets
- University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Melanie J Dufva
- University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Mario Boehm
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Giessen, Germany
| | - Xuefeit Tian
- Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Xulei Qin
- Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer E Tabakh
- University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Uyen Truong
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.,Department of Pediatrics - Division of Cardiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Dunbar Ivy
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Edda Spiekerkoetter
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Dufva MJ, Boehm M, Ichimura K, Truong U, Qin X, Tabakh J, Hunter KS, Ivy D, Spiekerkoetter E, Kheyfets VO. Pulmonary arterial banding in mice may be a suitable model for studies on ventricular mechanics in pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 2021; 23:66. [PMID: 34078382 PMCID: PMC8173855 DOI: 10.1186/s12968-021-00759-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The role of interventricular mechanics in pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and its relation to right ventricular (RV) dysfunction has been largely overlooked. Here, we characterize the impact of maintained pressure overload in the RV-pulmonary artery (PA) axis on myocardial strain and left ventricular (LV) mechanics in pediatric PAH patients in comparison to a preclinical PA-banding (PAB) mouse model. We hypothesize that the PAB mouse model mimics important aspects of interventricular mechanics of pediatric PAH and may be beneficial as a surrogate model for some longitudinal and interventional studies not possible in children. METHODS Balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) images of 18 PAH and 17 healthy (control) pediatric subjects were retrospectively analyzed using CMR feature-tracking (FT) software to compute measurements of myocardial strain. Furthermore, myocardial tagged-CMR images were also analyzed for each subject using harmonic phase flow analysis to derive LV torsion rate. Within 48 h of CMR, PAH patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) for measurement of PA/RV pressures, and to compute RV end-systolic elastance (RV_Ees, a measure of load-independent contractility). Surgical PAB was performed on mice to induce RV pressure overload and myocardial remodeling. bSSFP-CMR, tagged CMR, and intra-cardiac catheterization were performed on 12 PAB and 9 control mice (Sham) 7 weeks after surgery with identical post-processing as in the aforementioned patient studies. RV_Ees was assessed via the single beat method. RESULTS LV torsion rate was significantly reduced under hypertensive conditions in both PAB mice (p = 0.004) and pediatric PAH patients (p < 0.001). This decrease in LV torsion rate correlated significantly with a decrease in RV_Ees in PAB (r = 0.91, p = 0.05) and PAH subjects (r = 0.51, p = 0.04). In order to compare combined metrics of LV torsion rate and strain parameters principal component analysis (PCA) was used. PCA revealed grouping of PAH patients with PAB mice and control subjects with Sham mice. Similar to LV torsion rate, LV global peak circumferential, radial, and longitudinal strain were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced under hypertensive conditions in both PAB mice and children with PAH. CONCLUSIONS The PAB mouse model resembles PAH-associated myocardial mechanics and may provide a potential model to study mechanisms of RV/LV interdependency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Melanie J Dufva
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Childrens Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, 12700 E. 19th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045-2560, USA.
| | - Mario Boehm
- Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Justus-Liebig University Giessen, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Giessen, Germany
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kenzo Ichimura
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Uyen Truong
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Childrens Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Xulei Qin
- Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer Tabakh
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Kendall S Hunter
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Childrens Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Dunbar Ivy
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Childrens Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Edda Spiekerkoetter
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Vitaly O Kheyfets
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Childrens Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
Right atrial-pulmonary artery connection places the pulmonary circulation in series with the systemic circulation rather than the single ventricular "parallel" circulatory arrangement that usually is present prior to repair. The accompanying central cardiac shunt and volume overload physiology are eliminated. Favorable changes in ventricular dimension, ventricular wall stress, cardiovascular efficiency, relative systemic perfusion, and arterial oxygen saturation should result. The ongoing myocardial injury associated with the single-ventricle volume overload is presumably arrested and repair is initiated to a variable degree. Some candidates for right atrial-pulmonary artery connection may not benefit from repair because of irreversible ventricular injury. More accurate indices of systolic and diastolic ventricular function should be applied to this difficult group of borderline patients to further define potential for myocardial recovery and, therefore, candidacy for Fontan repair.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M K Pasque
- Department of Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01605
| |
Collapse
|