Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology - contenuto non piu disponibile

Angiotensin II (AngII) levels are often increased in patients with cardiovascular disease and different AngII receptor (ATR) blockers are commonly used in heart failure therapy. An increase in number of cardiac primitive cells (CPCs) has been found in adult human pathological heart and these cells express AT1 and AT2 receptors (ATR). Hence, it is conceivable that AngII and ATR blockers influence CPC properties. In this study we investigated the effects of AngII and AT1R, AT2R blocking on human CPCs in vitro. CPCs were isolated from adult human hearts with ischemic cardiomyopathy (n=11) by tissue digestion and adherent CD117(+) cells immunomagnetic separation. Cells were cultured in the presence of AngII 0,1 and 1μM for 24 hr with and without pretreatment with 1μM valsartan - AT1R blocker (AT1RB), 1μM PD 123319 - AT2R blocker (AT2RB), 10μM telmisartan - AT1RB with PPAR activity, 1μM GW9662 - PPARγ blocker (PPARB). The expression of PPARγ was evaluated by electrophoresis and immunoblotting, while the proliferation of cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Administration of AngII stimulated proliferation of CPCs. The expression of PPAR γ increased 8,5 and 11,8-fold (p