Testosterone Therapy Improves Cardiac Function of Male Rats with Right Heart Failure

LI Zong-bin; WANG Jing; WANG Ju-xiang; CHEN Xun-min; JIANG Shi-sen

Abstract：Objective:Clinical studies have shown decreased levels of sexual hormones,particularly testosterone deficiency,in men with chronic heart failure(CHF).The authors aimed to investigate the effect of testosterone on cardiac function and the possible mechanism of androgen protecting the heart in male rats. Methods:Forty-three male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:right heart failure(RHF,n=15),physiologic testosterone treatment(TT,n=15)and control(n=13).The RHF group was given intrapefitoneal injection of monocrotaline at 60 ms/kg to make RHF models;the TT group was injected with testosterone at 5 ms/kg 3 days after monocrotaline administration;and the control group received equal volume of saline.The CD34~+ cells in the peripheral blood of each rat were counted by flow cytometry.The levels of serum testosterone and tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α)were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay,respectively.The hearts,lungs and livers of all the surviving rats were excised at 6 weeks for pathological and immunohistochemical examinations. Results:The level of serum testosterone was graduallv decreased,while that of TNF-α obviously increased in the RHF group.After testosterone treatment,the Tr group showed a remarkable improvement of cardiac performance and a significant decrease in the level of serum TNF-α as compared with the RHF group.Statistically significant differences were observed neither in the CD34~+ cell count in the peripheral blood nor in the CD34~+ expression of the myocardial ceils between the TT and RHF groups. Conclusion:Physiological supplementation of testosterone can improve the cardiac function of RHF male rats,probably through its inhibition of TNF-α rather than by autologous mobilization of bone marrow stem cells.