Effects of pulse pressure and pulse pressure index on phenotypic transformation of cardiac fibroblasts and myocardial fibrosis in elderly rats with isolated systolic hypertension
LI Lu
LEI Lei
XIA Guiling
Abstract：Objective To investigate the effects of increased pulse pressure and pulse pressure index on phenotypic transformation of cardiac fibroblasts and myocardial fibrosis in elderly rats with isolated systolic hypertension(ISH).Methods A model of elderly ISH was established in 10-month-old Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats using warfarin and vitamin K1.Rats were divided into the SD group(n=7)and ISH group(n=7).Tail artery blood pressure was measured,and pulse pressure and pulse pressure index were calculated.Myocardial fibrosis was observed using Masson staining,and the expression levels of alpha-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA),fibronectin-ED-A(FN-ED-A),collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ were detected by Western blot.Results Compared with the SD group,systolic blood pressure,pulse pressure and pulse pressure index were significantly higher in the ISH group(P＜0.01),and the collagen volume fraction between myocardium and perivascular fraction within myocardium significantly increased(P＜0.01).Protein expressions of α-SMA,FN ED-A,collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ in rat left ventricular tissue were significantly higher in the ISH group than those of SD group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Increased pulse pressure and pulse pressure index can cause collagen deposition in the heart of elderly ISH rats,and cardiac fibroblast phenotypic transformation is involved in the development of myocardial fibrosis in elderly ISH rats.
Keywords：elderlypulse pressurepulse pressure indexcardiac fibroblastsmyocardial fibrosis
Publication Date：2025-09-26
Online Publishing Date：2025-10-24(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 1507-1510 )