Comparative effects of torasemide and furosemide on gap junction proteins and cardiac fibrosis in a rat model of dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Cardiac fibrosis is the major hallmark of adverse cardiac remodeling in chronic heart failure (CHF) and its therapeutic targeting might help against cardiac dysfunction during chronic conditions. Diuretic agents are potentially useful in these cases, but their effects on the cardiac fibrosis pathogenesis are yet to be identified. This study was designed to identify and compare the effects of diuretic drugs torasemide and furosemide on cardiac fibrosis in a rat model of dilated cardiomyopathy induced by porcine cardiac myosin mediated experimental autoimmune myocarditis. Gap junction proteins, connexin-43 and N-cadherin, expressions were downregulated in the hearts of CHF rats, while torasemide treatment has upregulated their expression. Western blotting and immunohistochemical analysis for various cardiac fibrosis related proteins as well as histopathological studies have shown that both drugs have potential anti-fibrotic effects. Among them, torasemide has superior efficacy in offering protection against adverse cardiac remodeling in the selected rat model of dilated cardiomyopathy. In conclusion, torasemide treatment has potential anti-fibrotic effect in the hearts of CHF rats, possibly via improving the gap junction proteins expression and thereby improving the cell-cell interaction in the heart. © 2016 BioFactors, 43(2):187-194, 2017.

Comparative effectiveness of loop diuretics on mortality in the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure – A multicenter propensity score matched analysis

“…Preclinical and clinical data suggest that there may be beneficial pharmacological and diseasespecific effects with long-acting loop diuretics such as torasemide as compared to short-acting furosemide [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. In brief, there is evidence that torasemide reduces aldosterone production, myocardial fibrosis, sympathetic activation, and ventricular remodelling [10-12, 14, 15, 31-33, 36].…”

Comparative evaluation of torasemide and spironolactone on adverse cardiac remodeling in a rat model of dilated cardiomyopathy

“…Various studies targeting these events using pharmacological approach during CHF have provided beneficial results . In the present study, we have used a rat model of CHF, which is a well‐established model for the research involving the identification of the pathogenic mechanisms behind CHF and also for screening various therapeutic compounds for its treatment …”