Downhill exercise training in monocrotaline-injected rats: Effects on echocardiographic and haemodynamic variables and survival.

Background: Eccentric exercise training has been shown to improve muscle force strength without excessive cardiovascular stress. Such an exercise modality deserves to be tested in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Aim: We aimed to assess the effects of an eccentric training modality on cardiac function and survival in an experimental monocrotaline-induced model of pulmonary arterial hypertension with right ventricular dysfunction.

Pretreatment with brain natriuretic peptide reduces skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress after ischemia-reperfusion.

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) reduces the extent of myocardial infarction. We aimed to determine whether BNP may reduce skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunctions and oxidative stress through mitochondrial K(ATP) (mK(ATP)) channel opening after ischemia-reperfusion (IR). Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: sham, 3-h leg ischemia followed by 2-h reperfusion (IR), pretreatment with BNP, and pretreatment with 5-hydroxydecanoic acid, an mK(ATP) channel blocker, before BNP.

Endocrine heart after lung transplantation: increased brain natriuretic peptide is related to right ventricular function.

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) increases in proportion to the extent of right ventricular dysfunction in pulmonary hypertension and after heart transplantation. No data are available after lung transplantation. Clinical, biological, respiratory, echocardiographic characteristics and circulating BNP and its second messenger cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) were determined in thirty matched subjects (10 lung-, 10 heart-transplant recipients (Ltx, Htx) and 10 healthy controls).