Aims: Alterations in calcium homeostasis in the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER) cause ER stress that ultimately may affect ventricular function. However, the role of ER stress in β-blocker therapy for congestive heart failure (CHF) has not been studied. This study examined ER stress in CHF and evaluated its role in β-blocker therapy in a canine model of ischaemic CHF.
Methods and results: CHF was created by daily coronary embolization in chronically instrumented dogs. After oral administration of β-blocker metoprolol or vehicle for 12 weeks, Ca(2+) transport proteins including sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA), ryanodine receptor (RyR2), Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX1), Ca(2+) storage protein calreticulin (CRT), and phospholamban were evaluated by Western blot analysis. Cellular levels of ER stress marker, phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α-P), were also examined. Compared with the vehicle-treated group, metoprolol caused significantly improved cardiac function, restored the proteins of SERCA2a, NCX1, and CRT, increased phosphorylated phospholamban, reversed protein kinase A hyperphosphorylation of RyR2, and resulted in normalized ER stress marker eIF2α-P and reduced DNA damage.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that ER stress could be induced by abnormal Ca(2+) homeostasis in CHF. The restoration of calcium-handling protein function and resultant decrease in ER stress might, in part, explain the beneficial effects of β-blockade observed in CHF. Whether this mechanism occurs in other animal CHF models or human CHF warrants further study.