The new specific therapy for myocarditis with ghrelin

方法：免疫雄性刘易斯大鼠，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，给予胃饥饿素或载体3周。首次免疫后6周，通过超声心动图、血流动力学、病理学和心肌基因表达评估心肌炎的严重程度。Ghrelin改善恶化的左心室（LV）缩短率和LV扩大。在一项血液动力学研究中，生长激素释放肽治疗大鼠的LV舒张末期压显著降低。Ghrelin显著减弱了左室形态计量学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，并增加了IL-4和IL-10的mRNA表达。总之，胃饥饿素的管理，改善左心室功能障碍，心肌炎大鼠可能通过调节辅助性T细胞活化。

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.