• Chi-Cheng Lai, Chun-Peng Liu, Pei-Wen Cheng, Pei-Jung Lu, Michael Hsiao, Wen-Hsien Lu, Gwo-Ching Sun, Jau-Cheng Liou, and Ching-Jiunn Tseng.
• 1Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.2Cardiovascular Center, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.3Department of Cardiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.4School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.5Department of Administration, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.6Department of Medical Education and Research, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.7Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.8Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.9Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.10Department of Anesthesiology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.11Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
• Crit. Care Med. 2016 Sep 1; 44 (9): e866-74.

ObjectivesAcute cardiomyopathy is a health problem worldwide. Few studies have shown an association between acute cardiomyopathy and low vitamin D status. Paricalcitol, a vitamin D receptor activator, clinically benefits patients with advanced kidney disease. The effect of paricalcitol supplement on cardiac remodeling in cardiomyopathic rats is unknown. This experimental study investigated the effect of paricalcitol in rats with cardiomyopathy induced by isoproterenol.DesignProspective, randomized, controlled experimental study.SettingHospital-affiliated animal research institution.SubjectsEight-week-old male Wistar-Kyoto rats.InterventionsMale Wistar-Kyoto rats were first injected intraperitoneally with isoproterenol to create a rat model of acute cardiomyopathy. Then paricalcitol was administered intraperitoneally to isoproterenol-injected rats at a dosage of 200 ng three times a week for 3 weeks. Relevant cardiomyopathy-related variables were measured regularly in three groups of rats, controls, isoproterenol, and isoproterenol plus paricalcitol. Rat hearts were obtained for evaluation of cardiac fibrosis using Masson trichrome staining and commercially available software, and evaluation of cell transition using immunofluorescence staining analysis.Measurements And Main ResultsIsoproterenol infusions generated significant cardiac fibrosis (p < 0.001). Subsequent paricalcitol treatment attenuated the isoproterenol-induced cardiac fibrosis (p = 0.006). Fluorescence showed colocalization of endothelial and fibroblast cell markers (cluster differentiation 31 and α-smooth muscle actin, respectively) in the isoproterenol-treated hearts. Paricalcitol injections attenuated the isoproterenol-induced fluorescence intensity of two cell markers (p < 0.01).ConclusionsParicalcitol injections may ameliorate isoproterenol-induced cardiac fibrosis possibly through regulating cell transition.

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