Elevated enolase and caveolin-1 in the heart of rats following dexamethasone-induced toxicity

Abstract

Abstract. Dexamethasone (DEX)-induced heart damage is associated with enzyme and protein alterations. The purpose of this study was to investigate DEX-induced alterations in cardiac enolase and caveolin-1 (cav-1) following DEX administration. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: a control and a DEX. The DEX group intraperitoneally received DEX at the single dose of 10 mg/kg for 7 consecutive days, and the control was given the same amount of saline via the same route. On day 8, the rats were anesthetized, and a thoracotomy was performed in all animals. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to evaluate protein expression of enolase and cav-1. Sections were analyzed by digital image analysis. Our results demonstrated that cardiac protein expression of enolase and cav-1 was altered following DEX-induced toxicity in the rat. The expression of enolase and cav-1 was significantly increased after DEX treatment, supported by integrated optical density compared with the control (P<0.05). In conclusion, following DEX-induced toxicity, protein expression of enolase and cav-1 was significantly elevated. The current findings indicate that such alterations would be reflected in abnormal cardiac function, and the proteins identified in this study may be useful in revealing the mechanisms underlying DEX-induced toxicity and also in providing various clues for further research.

Changes in FABP1 and gastrin receptor expression in the testes of rats that have undergone electrical injury

“…All rat testes were investigated by immunohistochemistry to determine the difference between the electrical injury and control groups or the fatal electrocution and control groups with respect to FABP1 and gastrin R expression. The immunohistochemical analyses were performed as described previously (13)(14)(15). The primary antibodies were mouse monoclonal anti-FABP1 [sc-271591; L-FABP (F-9); Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Santa Cruz, CA, USA] and anti-gastrin R (BA2104; Wuhan Boster Biological Technology, Ltd., Wuhan, China), which were used at a dilution of 1:400.…”