The new specific therapy for myocarditis with ghrelin

方法：免疫雄性Lewis大鼠，诱导自身免疫性心肌炎。从第一次肌球蛋白注射后3周开始，胃促生长素或载体给予3周。第一次免疫后6周，通过超声心动图、血流动力学、病理和心肌基因表达评估心肌炎的严重程度。生长素改善了恶化的左室（LV）分数缩短和LV增大。在一项血流动力学研究中，胃饥饿素治疗的大鼠左室舒张末期压显著降低。胃饥饿素显著减弱左室形态胶原体积分数的增加。有趣的是，ghrelin治疗降低了心肌炎大鼠心脏中干扰素- γ和白细胞介素(IL) -2的mRNA表达，增加了IL-4和IL-10的mRNA表达。综上所述，胃饥饿素可能通过调节辅助性T细胞活化来改善心肌炎大鼠左室功能障碍。

Methods: Male Lewis rats were immunized and autoimmune myocarditis was induced. From the 3 weeks after the first myosin injection, ghrelin or vehicle were administered for 3 weeks. Six weeks after the first immunization, the severity of myocarditis was evaluated by echocardiography, hemodynamics, pathology, and gene expressions in myocardium. Ghrelin improved the deteriorated left ventricular (LV) fractional shortening and LV enlargement. In a hemodynamic study, there was a substantial decrease in LV end-diastolic pressure in ghrelin-treated rats. Ghrelin markedly attenuated an increase in morphometrical collagen volume fraction in LV. Interestingly, the treatment of ghrelin decreased the mRNA expression of interferon -gamma and interleukin (IL) -2 and increased the mRNA expression of IL-4 and IL-10 in the heart of rats with myocarditis. In conclusion, administration of ghrelin improved LV dysfunction in rats with myocarditis probably via the modulation of helper T cell activation.