Expression of heat shock protein 70 in atrial tissue of patients with chronic heart failure

AIM:To explore the expression of heat shock protein (HSP) 70 in atrial tissue of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: Right atrial tissue was taken from 60 patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients were equally divided into NYHA I group, NYHA II group and NYHA III group (n=20, each). mRNA level of HSP70 was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method. RESULTS: mRNA level of HSP70 significantly decreased in both NYHA II group and NYHA III group compared with NYHA I group (both P<0.05). mRNA level of HSP70 significantly decreased in NYHA III group compared with NYHA II group (P<0.05). mRNA level of HSP70 was negatively correlated with age and years of disease in CHF patients. CONCLUSIONS: HSP70 expression decreases in CHF patients, indicating that the protective effect of HSP70 weakens with the degree of increasing disease severity.