Protective effect of spironolactone on ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial infarction in rats

Objective: To evaluate the effect of spironolactone on the left ventricular remodeling parameters after acute myocardial infarction(AMI) and the aldosterone and collagen content of the non-infarction area in rats,and to elucidate mechanism of spironolactone in protecting the left ventricular remodeling after AMI.Methods: Twenty-four surviving female Wistar rats after AMI were randomly divided into spironolactone group(gastric lavage with 40mg·kg-1·d-1 spironolactone,n=12) and AMI control group(gastric lavage with tap water,n=12).Sham-operated female rats(gastric lavage with tap water,n=12) were selected as non-infarction control.The pathological changes were analyzed,and the aldosterone and collagen content were determined 28 days after the gastric lavage.Results: Compared with sham operation group,the left ventricular absolute and relative weight,aldosterone content,collagen volume fraction,and typeⅠand Ⅲ collagen content significantly increased in the control group;no significant difference was found in septal thickness between the control group and sham operation group.Compared with the control group,all parameters mentioned above significantly decreased in spironolactone group.Conclusion: Left ventricular remodeling occurrs in AMI rats 28 days after AMI.Spironolactone can improve ventricular remodeling by decreasing the aldosterone content and collagen accumulation of non-infarction area.