Estrogen rescues preexisting severe pulmonary hypertension in rats.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by progressive increase in pulmonary artery pressure leading to right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy, RV failure, and death. Current treatments only temporarily reduce severity of the disease, and an ideal therapy is still lacking.

Objectives

Estrogen pretreatment has been shown to attenuate development of PH. Because PH is not often diagnosed early, we examined if estrogen can rescue preexisting advanced PH.

Methods

PH was induced in male rats with monocrotaline (60 mg/kg). At Day 21, rats were either treated with 17-β estradiol or estrogen (E2, 42.5 μg/kg/d), estrogen receptor-β agonist (diarylpropionitrile, 850 μg/kg/d), or estrogen receptor α-agonist (4,4',4"-[4-Propyl-(1H)-pyrazole-1,3,5-triyl] trisphenol, 850

SUBMITTER: Umar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3208600 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature