Effects of sexual hormones reduction due to oophorectomy and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on cardiac hypertrophy induced by the isoproterenol in young adult female rats.

Abstract

Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation as a result of the low ovarian follicular function or the surgical removal of the ovaries. Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mortality in postmenopausal women in developed countries and the difference between incidence in pre and postmenopausal women have been attributed to the action of estrogen on the cardiovascular system. Besides that, menopause is also associated with the higher corporal mass and obesity prevalence that is correlated to insulin resistance, which is associated with type II diabetes and aging. The left ventricular hypertrophy is an adaptation to hypertension. Administration of isoproterenol induces the hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes by non pressoric mechanisms that directly activate heart ²-receptors.This study aims to evaluate surgical menopause effects in female rats, by bilateral oophorectomy, on cardiac hypertrophy induced by isoproterenol treatment. More specifically, it will be appraised: (1) myocytes morphology and inflammatory infiltration of the left ventricle by coloration and (2) expression analysis of several cytokines expression - alpha-TNF, IL-1, IL-6 - and proteins involved with cell grow and apoptosis (IGF - 1R, IR, IRS-1, IRS -2, PI3K, AKT, MAPKp42/44, JAK2, SOCS).