effects of methotrexate on plasma cytokines and cardiac remodeling and function in postmyocarditis rats甲氨蝶呤对等离子体的影响细胞因子和postmyocarditis老鼠心脏重构和功能.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Mediators of Inflammation Volume 2009, Article ID 389720, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2009/389720 Research Article Effects of Methotrexate on Plasma Cytokines and Cardiac Remodeling and Function in Postmyocarditis Rats Zhengang Zhang,1, 2, 3 Pei Zhao,1 Aihua Li,1 Xiaolei Lv,1 Yang Gao,1 Hongguang Sun,4 Yongling Ding,5 and Jian Liu6 1 Department of Cardiovascular Disease, The First People’s Hospital of Yangzhou, 45 Taizhou Road, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225001, China 2 Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Yangzhou University, 11 Huaihai Road, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225001, China 3 Cardiovascular Institute Southeast University at Yangzhou, 45 Taizhou Road, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225001, China 4 Department of Ultrasonography, The First People’s Hospital of Yangzhou, 45 Taizhou Road, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225001, China 5 Department of Pathology, The First People’s Hospital of Yangzhou, 45 Taizhou Road, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225001, China 6 Central Lab, The First People’s Hospital of Yangzhou, 45 Taizhou Road, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225001, China Correspondence should be addressed to Zhengang Zhang, zhzg@ Received 6 February 2009; Revised 5 May 2009; Accepted 5 August 2009 ˆ ¨ Recommended by Tania Frode Excessive immune activation and inflammatory mediators may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of chronic heart failure. Methotrexate is a commonly used anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug. In this study, we used a rat model of cardiac myosin-induced experimental autoimmune myocarditis to investigate the effects of low-dose methotrexate (0.1 mg/kg/d for 30 d) on the plasma level of cytokines and cardiac remodeling and function. Our study showed that levels of tumor necrosis factor-(TNF