Cardiomyocyte alterations in the face of chronic ethanol

Abstract

Introduction: In addition to liver disease, gastrointestinal problems and brain damage, chronic ingestion of large amounts of ethanol induces toxic effects, including on the heart. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (AC) is a common cardiac disorder. Objective: To quantify the rate of cardiac tissue replacement, deposition of collagen fibril bundles, and cardiomyocyte heterogeneity in the left ventricular myocardium of male and female rats voluntarily drinking ethanol. Materials and Methods: Five male and five female Wistar rats aged 250 days (adults), called UChB (University of Chile), spontaneous drinkers of high concentrations of ethanol, and five adult male UChB rats and five adult female UChB rats aged 250 days, not exposed to ethanol, UChBC rats (controls), will be used. The UChB rats will undergo a selection period at 65 days of age where they will receive two bottles, one with a 10% ethanol solution and the other with water, for 15 days of free choice. The UChBC group will have access to water only from weaning until collection. After euthanasia, the hearts of five rats from each group will be sectioned sagittally. Structural integrity of cardiac tissue will be assessed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and tissue repair, if present, will be assessed by Masson's trichrome (MT) labeling of collagen fiber bundles. Morphometric analyses will be carried out using the Fiji distribution of the public domain ImageJ software.