Delayed Treatment Effects of Xanthine Oxidase Inhibition on Systolic Overload-Induced Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and Dysfunction

The nonpurine selective xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitor febuxostat attenuates development of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and dysfunction in mice when treatment is initiated within 1 hour of transverse aortic constriction (TAC). This study investigated whether a 7-day delay of treatment with the XO inhibitors febuxostat or allopurinol would reverse TAC-induced changes after onset of heart failure (HF). Neither treatment significantly affected TAC-induced LV hypertrophy; only febuxostat caused a modest improvement in LV function (10% increase in LV ejection fraction). However, the purine analog allopurinol tended to increase mortality compared with vehicle or febuxostat in HF mice.