Diagnosis of myocardial fibrosis in arterial hypertension: an experimental study

Myocardial fibrosis is a global medical problem, as far as it is associated with almost all forms of cardiovascular disease, including arterial hypertension (AH).

The aim: to determine the development of myocardial fibrosis in an experiment on laboratory animals using morphological and biochemical research methods.

Material and methods. The study included 24 Wistar rats aged 13–14 weeks, in which hypertension was modeled by removing one of their kidneys (experimental group). The control group consisted of sham-operated rats, which underwent a translumbar approach without kidney removal, followed by wound closure (n = 6). Blood for the study was collected from the inferior vena cava after euthanasia of the animals and subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using kits for transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) level determination.

Results. The average systolic blood pressure in the experimental group in the first month of the experiment was 167 mmHg, diastolic – 89 mmHg. In the 2nd month, similar indexes were 178 and 95 mm Hg, in the 3rd – 152 and 92.6 mm Hg, in the 4th – 173.3 and 98.6 mm Hg, in the 5th – 180.6 and 102 mm Hg, in the 6th month – 161.3 and 90.6 mm Hg. When analyzing plasma TGF-β levels, the average TGF-β level in the control group was 7.4 ng/ml at month 2, 9.13 at month 4, and 8.57 ng/ml at month 6. In the experimental group, the average TGF-β concentrations at the same time points were 20.48, 18.24, and 15.6 ng/ml, respectively (p <0.05).

Conclusion. The development of myocardial fibrosis in rats from the experimental group with arterial hypertension was confirmed by a significant increase in plasma TGF-β levels comparatively to animals in the control group. Using of this biomarker may be promising for predicting the development of hypertension complications, such as myocardial infarction, cardiac rhythm and conduction disorder, acute cerebrovascular accident.