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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscular disorder caused by X-chromosomal DMD gene mutations. Recently, a new CRISPR/Cas9-mediated DMD rat model (cDMDR) was established and is expected to show cardiac lesions similar to those in humans. We therefore investigated the pathological and pathophysiological features of the cardiac lesions and their progression in cDMDR. For our cDMDR, Dmd-mutated rats (W-Dmd em1Kykn ) were obtained. Dmd heterozygous-deficient females and wild-type (WT) males were mated, and male offspring including WT as controls were used. (1) Hearts were collected at 3, 5, and 10 months of age, and HE- and Masson's trichrome-stained specimens were observed. (2) Electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings were made and analyzed at 3, 5, and 8 months of age. (3) Echocardiography was performed at 9 months of age. In cDMDR rats, (1) degeneration/necrosis of cardiomyocytes and myocardial fibrosis prominent in the right ventricular wall and the outer layer of the left ventricular wall were observed. Fibrosis became more prominent with aging. (2) Lower P wave amplitudes and greater R wave amplitudes were detected. PR intervals tended to be shorter. QT intervals were longer at 3 months but tended to be shorter at 8 months. Sinus irregularity and premature ventricular contraction were observed at 8 months. (3) Echocardiography indicated myocardial sclerosis and a tendency of systolic dysfunction. Pathological and pathophysiological changes occurred in cDMDR rat hearts and progressed with aging, which is, to some extent, similar to what occurs in humans. Thus, cDMDR could be a valuable model for studying cardiology of human DMD.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor of cerebro-cardiovascular outcomes. Blood pressure is partly regulated by the autonomic nervous system and its reflex functions, therefore, we hypothesized that pharmacological intervention in the brainstem that can regulate blood pressure could be a novel therapeutic strategy to control hypertension. We infused a group II metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) antagonist (LY341495, 0.40 μg/day), using a mini-osmotic pump, into the dorsal medulla oblongata in young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), as this area is adjacent to the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), of which the neurons are involved in baroreflex pathways with glutamatergic transmission. Blood pressure was recorded for conscious rats with the tail cuff method. A 6-week antagonist treatment from 6 to 12 weeks of age slightly but significantly increased systolic blood pressure by &gt, 30 mmHg, compared to that in SHRs without treatment. Moreover, the effect continued even 3 weeks after the treatment ended, and concurred with an increase in blood catecholamine concentration. However, heart rate variability analysis revealed that LY341495 treatment had little effect on autonomic activity. Meanwhile, mRNA expression level of mGluR subtype 2, but not subtype 3 in the brainstem was significantly enhanced by the antagonist treatment in SHRs, possibly compensating the lack of mGluR signaling. In conclusion, mGluR2 signaling in the dorsal brainstem is crucial for preventing the worsening of hypertension over a relatively long period in SHRs, through a mechanism of catecholamine secretion. This may be a specific drug target for hypertension therapy.

The senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM) strain has been established as an inbred strain with an accelerated aging phenotype. SAM prone-8 (SAMP8), one of the SAM strain, exhibits learning disability, immune deficiency, and circadian rhythm loss at a relatively young age. However, it has not been clarified whether aging affects the autonomic nervous activity in SAMP8. The aim of this study was to clarify the utility of SAMP8 in age-related studies of autonomic nervous function. Electrocardiogram (ECG), body temperature, and locomotor activity were recorded to evaluate bio-behavioral activities. Autonomic nervous activity was evaluated via power spectral analysis of heart rate variability from ECG recordings. SAMP8 significantly decreased both biological and autonomic nervous functions, and the animals exhibited circadian rhythm loss of locomotive activity at as early as 40 weeks of age compared with a control strain at the same age. We concluded that the SAMP8 strain can be used as an animal model for age-related studies of autonomic nervous function.

Cardiotoxicity is a concern in the development of microtubule-disassembling agents (MDAs) as vascular-disrupting agents of tumors. This study investigated cardiotoxicity in rats induced by a single-dose of combretastatin A4 disodium phosphate (CA4DP), an MDA and discussed the use of this rat model in nonclinical studies of MDAs. First, CA4DP (120 mg/kg) was administered to rats intravenously, and cardiac histopathology and blood biomarkers were examined after 0.5, 24, and 72 h. Next, CA4DP (120 mg/kg) was administered to rats intravenously, and the electrocardiography and echocardiography results were analyzed. The results showed that at 0.5 h after dosing, plasma creatine kinase (CK), CK-muscle/brain (CK-MB), and fatty acid binding protein 3 levels increased. At 24 h, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-1, CK, and CK-MB levels increased, and multifocal vacuolar degeneration of myocardial cells was observed in the apical inner layer. At 72 h, LDH-1 levels were increased, and multifocal myocardial necrosis was observed in the interventricular septum and inner layer of the apex of left ventricular wall. Furthermore, at 0.5 h, heart rate (HR), ejection fraction (EF), and cardiac output (CO) decreased. At 24 h, CO decreased. Finally, at 72 h, HR, EF, and CO decreased, and depression of the T-wave amplitude was observed. In conclusion, myocardial injury, bradycardia, and depressed cardiac function were induced in rats by a single-dose of CA4DP. The lesion distribution and electrocardiographic features suggested that myocardial injury was induced by ischemia. These findings are similar to MDA-induced cardiotoxicity in humans, and this rat model will prove useful in studies of the cardiotoxicity in humans.

Environmental enrichment (EE) can reduce anxiety and stress in experimental animals, while little is known about the influence on autonomic nervous activity especially in disease animal models. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction, which can be characterized by a higher resting heart rate and a lower heart rate variability (HRV). We hypothesized that EE can enhance parasympathetic nervous activity while reducing disease progression in type 2 diabetic mice. A telemetry transmitter was implanted in NSY mice to continuously record electrocardiograms (ECG). Animals were kept in a cage with or without a nest box as EE. The autonomic nervous activity was evaluated using power spectral analysis of HRV. Four weeks of EE could increase high frequency (HF) power, but no change was observed in the absence of EE. Although animals showed impaired glucose tolerance at 48 weeks of age regardless of EE, a worsen case was observed in control. These results indicate that EE can be necessary for long-term housing of experimental animals and may reduce the risk of impaired glucose tolerance in NSY mice by enhancing parasympathetic nervous activity. In future, it is demanded whether increasing parasympathetic nervous activity, whatever the method is, can prevent diabetes from worsening.

Histopathological and electrocardiographic features of myocardial lesions induced by combretastatin A4 disodium phosphate (CA4DP) were evaluated, and the relation between myocardial lesions and vascular changes and the direct toxic effect of CA4DP on cardiomyocytes were discussed. We induced myocardial lesions by administration of CA4DP to rats and evaluated myocardial damage by histopathologic examination and electrocardiography. We evaluated blood pressure (BP) of CA4DP-treated rats and effects of CA4DP on cellular impedance-based contractility of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPS-CMs). The results revealed multifocal myocardial necrosis with a predilection for the interventricular septum and subendocardial regions of the apex of the left ventricular wall, injury of capillaries, morphological change of the ST junction, and QT interval prolongation. The histopathological profile of myocardial lesions suggested that CA4DP induced a lack of myocardial blood flow. CA4DP increased the diastolic BP and showed direct effects on hiPS-CMs. These results suggest that CA4DP induces dysfunction of small arteries and capillaries and has direct toxicity in cardiomyocytes. Therefore, it is thought that CA4DP induced capillary and myocardial injury due to collapse of the microcirculation in the myocardium. Moreover, the direct toxic effect of CA4DP on cardiomyocytes induced myocardial lesions in a coordinated manner.