Effects of cerivastatin on adrenergic pathways, hypertrophic growth and TGFbeta expression in adult ventricular cardiomyocytes.

Abstract The effects of statin treatment in the setting of heart failure have already been shown. Nevertheless, there is little knowledge about its influence on adrenergic pathways in cardiomyocytes. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of cerivastatin on adrenoceptor-mediated signalling pathways in isolated adult ventricular cardiomyocytes. It focused on two endpoints: hypertrophic growth and TGFbeta expression. Cultured cardiomyocytes were used to study rac activation (analysed by its translocation into the membrane fraction), ROS formation (H 2 DCF fluorescence) and hypertrophic growth ( 14 C-phenylalanine incorporation). Alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor stimulation showed significa…