Ethanol infusion increases ANP and p21 gene expression in isolated perfused rat heart

Whether alcohol-induced heart failure is caused by a direct toxic effect of ethanol, metabolites, or whether it is a secondary result of neurohumoral, hormonal, or nutritional factors is not clear, To address this question a Langendorff retrograde coronary perfusion model of rat heart was used to st udy the effect of 0.5% (v/v) ethanol (n = 7) and 0.5 mM acetaldehyde (n = 9 ) on left ventricular expression of ANP, BNP, p53, p21, TNF-alpha, bax, bcl -2 as well as on DNA-fragmentation. Ethanol infusion of 150 min duration si gnificantly induced both ANP and p21 mRNA expression of ventricular myocard ium compared with hearts infused with vehicle (n = 8), Acetaldehyde did not exert any significant effects on any of the parameters studied, although t he mean expression of TNF-alpha tended to be lower in the acetaldehyde-trea ted hearts than in control hearts. No evidence of increased DNA-fragmentati on was found in ethanol or acetaldehyde treated groups. We conclude that et hanol per se is capable of inducing genes associated with hypertrophy and i mpaired function of the heart whereas a significant apoptosis is not involv ed in the initial phase of alcohol-induced cardiac injury. (C) 2001 Academi c Press.