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The effect of nifedipine on monocrotaline‐induced pulmonary hypertension in rats
Author(s) -
INOUE MAKOTO,
HARADA YURIKA,
WATANABE KOJI,
MORI CHUZO,
TANAKA OSAMU
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-200x.1993.tb03052.x
Subject(s) - medicine , nifedipine , ventricle , pulmonary hypertension , vascular resistance , cardiology , hemodynamics , right ventricular hypertrophy , blood pressure , pulmonary artery , anesthesia , calcium
Effective drug therapy for pulmonary hypertension has not yet been developed. This study was designed to estimate the long‐term hemodynamic and histopathological effects of nifedipine on severe pulmonary hypertension using animal models. Injection of one dose of monocrotaline produced subacute pulmonary hypertension in 7 week old Sprague‐Dawley rats. Nifedipine (10 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally every day. For 5 weeks, bodyweight and hemodynamic parameters were measured, and right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle with septum (LV + S) were weighed separately. Medial thickness of the small pulmonary arterial wall was calculated by Suwa's method. Compared with the control group, the increase in right ventricular systolic pressure, total pulmonary resistance index, weight ratio of RV/(LV + S) and medial hypertrophy in the nifedipine‐treated rats were significantly limited without causing systemic hypotension. These results suggest that treatment with nifedipine may also be effective in attenuation of pulmonary hypertension when applied to humans.