Influence of valsartan on left ventricular remodeling and heart function in rats with acute myocardial infarction

AIM To investigate the effect of valsartan on the left ventricular remodeling and heart function in rats with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS Six hours after ligating left coronary artery, 80 female Sprague Dawley rats were divided randomly into Sham operation group (Sham group, n=20), MI control group (MI-C group, n=30) and MI valsartan group (MI-V group, n=30). MI-C group and MI-V group undergone acute myocardial infarction by ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery. Sham group were treated in the same way as previously described except for coronary ligation. In MI-V group, valsartan was orally administered 20 mg/(kg·d), twice a day and this procedure lasted 7 days. In Sham group and MI-C group, only 4 g/L saline was orally administered. After 12 hours, 3 days and 7 days of therapy, we analyzed the echocardiography parameters and structure parameters. RESULTS Compared with those in Sham group, left ventricular systolic pressure, left ventricular +dp/dtmax and -dp/dtmax markedly decreased（P<0.05）, while left ventricular end diastolic pressure markedly increased（P<0.05） and left ventricular weight index markedly increased（P<0.05） in 7 days in MI-C group. Left ventricular end diastolic volume, short axes and left ventricular weight index markedly decreased（P<0.05 or 0.01） in 7 days. Long axes, Sphericity index and fractional shortening markedly decreased（P<0.05 or 0.01） in 7 days in MI-C group. Compared with those in MI-C group, LVSP, +dp/dt, -dp/dt and LVEDP markedly increased（P<0.05）while LVWI markedly decreased（P<0.05） in 7 days in MI-V group. Infarction regional markedlyalso decreased（P<0.05） in 3 days and 7 days in MI-V group. LVEDV, D and LVWI markedly decreased（P<0.05 or 0.01） in 7 days. L, sphericity index and FS markedly increased（P<0.05 or 0.01） in 7 days in MI-V group. CONCLUSION Valsartan restrains left ventricular remodeling and improves heart function after AMI.