Cardiac and vascular gene profiles in an animal model of takotsubo cardiomyopathy

We investigated cardiac and vascular gene profiles in response to immobilization stress (IMO) in rats, an animal model of emotional stress-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy using microarray analysis, followed by re-confirmation with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Expression levels of the identified genes were further estimated by pretreatment with an alpha 1-adrenoceptor blocker and/or a beta 1-adrenoceptor blocker. In response to IMO, expression of 46 genes was significantly altered in the heart and that of 49 genes was significantly altered in the aorta. Pathway analysis with DAVID Bioinformatics Resources indicated that regulation of transcription and response to endogenous stimulation were the top two scoring pathways. Altered expression of cardiac genes was blunted by pretreatment with a beta 1-adrenoceptor blocker or alpha 1 + beta 1-adrenoceptor blockers. In contrast, that of aortic genes was blunted by pretreatment with an alpha 1-adrenoceptor blocker or alpha 1 + beta 1-adrenoceptor blockers. Activation of alpha 1-adrenoceptor in the blood vessels or activation of beta 1-adrenoceptors in the heart were mainly responsible for emotional stress-induced alteration of cardiac and vascular gene profiles.