Chronic stress is associated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. These
mechanisms promote adverse cardiovascular events. Though many experimental studies have reported
a protective effect of vitamin D (VitD) on cardiovascular system, its effect on cardiovascular
system in case of chronic stress is not studied yet. The present study aimed to detect the effects of VitD
treatment against chronic immobilization stress (CIS)-induced cardiac dysfunction, focusing mainly
on mitochondrial function and oxidative stress in rats. CIS showed cardiac dysfunction as indicated
by a significant decrease in the left ventricular end-diastolic and systolic diameters and decrease in
ejection fraction and fractional shortening compared to the control group. This was accompanied by
a significant decrease in tissue reserves of reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD),
ATP and cardiolipin as well as increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and expression of peroxisome
proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α). All these effects were accompanied by
a significant increase in plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline. Treatment with VitD ameliorated all
the aforementioned CIS-induced effects except PGC-1α expression in a dose-dependent manner.
To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the prophylactic cardioprotective effects of VitD
against CIS by targeting mitochondrial function. |
