Antibody therapy can enhance AngiotensinII-induced myocardial fibrosis

Background: Myocardial fibrosis is a pathological process that is characterized by disrupted regulation of extracellular matrix proteins resulting in permanent scarring of the heart tissue and eventual diastolic heart failure. Pro-fibrotic molecules including transforming growth factor-beta and connective tissue growth factor are expressed early in the AngiotensinII (AngII)-induced and other models of myocardial fibrosis. As such, antibody-based therapies against these and other targets are currently under development. Results: In the present study, C57Bl/6 mice were subcutaneously implanted with a mini-osmotic pump containing either AngII (2.0 mug/kg/min) or saline control for 3 days in combination with mIgG (1 mg/kg/d) injected through the tail vein. Fibrosis was assessed after picosirius red staining of myocardial cross-sections and was significantly increased after AngII exposure compared to saline control (11.37 +/- 1.41%, 4.94 +/- 1.15%; P
Source: Fibrogenesis and Tissue Repair - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research