Background: Diabetic cardiomyopathy is characterized by systolic and early diastolic ventricular dysfunction. In the metabolic syndrome (MS), ventricular stiffness is additionally increased in a later stage. It is unknown whether this is related to intrinsic cardiomyocyte dysfunction, extrinsic factors influencing cardiomyocyte contractility and/or cardiac function, or a combination of both. A first aim was to study cardiomyocyte contractility and Ca2+ handling in vitro in a mouse model of MS. A second aim was to investigate whether in vivo hypocaloric diet or ACE-inhibition (ACE-I) improved cardiomyocyte contractility in vitro, contractile reserve and Ca2+ handling.
Methods: This study was performed in LDL-receptor (LDLR-/-) and leptin-deficient (ob/ob), double knock-out mice (DKO), featuring obesity, type II diabetes, atherogenic dyslipidemia and hypertension. Single knock-out LDLR-/-, ob/ob and wild type mice were used as controls. Cellular contractility, Ca2+ handling and their response to in vivo treatment with diet or ACE-I were studied in isolated cardiomyocytes at baseline, during β-adrenergic stimulation or increased extracellular Ca2+, using field stimulation and patch-clamp.
Results: In untreated conditions, prolongation of contraction-relaxation cycle and altered Ca2+ handling are observed in MS. Response to increased extracellular Ca2+ and β-adrenergic stimulation is impaired and could not be rescued by weight loss. ACE-I restored impaired response to β-adrenergic stimulation in MS, but not the decreased response to increased extracellular Ca2+.
Conclusions: Cardiomyocyte contractility and β-adrenergic response are impaired in MS, due to alterations in cellular Ca2+ handling. ACE-I, but not weight loss, is able to restore cardiomyocyte response to β-adrenergic stimulation in MS.