[Bilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy attenuates cardiac remodeling and improves cardiac function in pressure-overloaded heart failure mice].

To investigate the effect of bilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy on cardiac remodeling and function in pressure-overloaded heart failure (HF) mice. Pressure-overloaded HF mouse model was produced by severe thoracic aorta banding (sTAB). Bilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy (SCGx) was performed 2 weeks after sTAB. Twenty four 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were randomized divided into 4 groups (=6 each): control group: sham sTAB+sham SCGx; denervated group: sham sTAB+SCGx; HF group: sTAB+sham SCGx; denervated HF group: sTAB+SCGx. Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography at week 0, 1, 2, and 4 after sTAB, respectively. All mice were sacrificed at the end of week 4 and heart tissues were harvested. HE and Masson staining were performed. Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), adrenergic receptor β1 (AR-β1) and CD68 was performed. Western blot was used to determine the protein expression level of TH, B type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and AR-β1. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) declined continuously in HF group. LVEF was similar between denervated HF group and control group at various time points (>0.05). LVEF was significantly higher in denervated HF group than in HF group at the end of week 4 (<0.05). HE staining showed that cross sectional cardiomyocyte area was significantly larger in HF group than in control group and denervated HF group (<0.05), which was similar between denervated HF group and control group (>0.05). Masson staining showed that fibrosis level was significantly lower in denervated HF group than in HF group (<0.05). IHC showed that TH+nerves and CD68 macrophages were significantly increased in HF mice as compared to control mice (<0.05), whereas this change was abolished in denervated HF group. AR-β1 was significantly down-regulated in HF group compared with control group (<0.05), which was not affected by denervation (>0.05). Western blot demonstrated that the expression level of TH and BNP was significantly higher in HF group compared with the control group (<0.05), whereas this difference was diminished in denervated HF group (>0.05). Bilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy can reduce sympathetic innervation and macrophage infiltration in pressure overloaded failure heart, thus attenuate cardiac remodeling and improve cardiac function.