Effects of carvedilol at different doses on ventricular function and cardiac myocyte apoptosis in heart failure

Objective To investigate the effects of carvedilol (CAR) at different doses on ventricular function and cardiac myocyte apoptosis in the congestive heart failure (CHF) rat model. Methods Eight weeks after partially banding abdominal aorfic artery, 26 Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups ① heart failure group (n=8); ② low dose carvedilol group 0.1 mg/(kg·d), n=8; ③ high dose carvedilol group 10 mg/(kg·d), n=10. Meanwhile, sham-operated rats (n=8) were established as the control group. After 4 weeks of remedy, hemodynamic parameters, ventricular mass index (LVMI and RVMI) and apoptosis index (AI) were studied. Results Compared with sham-operated rats, the hemodynamic in heart failure group was deteriorated, LVMI, RVMI and cardiac myocyte apoptosis were increased significantly. In both the low dose carvedilol and high dose carvedilol groups, heart function improved and apoptosis index decreased, and this beneficial effect was more obvious in the high dose group. Conclusions CAR can effectively decrease myocardiocyte apoptosis, prevent and cure CHF. These data suggest that the inhibition of apoptosis with carvedilol may lead to the improvement in ventriculat function.