Alpha–Melanocyte-stimulating Hormone Induces Vasodilation and Exerts Cardioprotection Through the Heme-Oxygenase Pathway in Rat Hearts

Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a protein with known capacity for protection against cardiovascular ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. This investigation evaluates the capacity of α-MSH to mitigate I/R effects in an isolated working rat heart model and determine the dependency of these alterations on the activity of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1, hsp-32), a heat shock protein that functions as a major antioxidant defense molecule. Healthy male Sprague Dawley rats were used for all experiments. After treatment with selected doses of α-MSH, echocardiographic examinations were performed on live, anesthetized animals. Hearts were harvested from anesthetized rats pretreated with α-MSH and/or the HO-1 inhibitor SnPP, followed by cardiac function assessment on isolated working hearts, which were prepared using the Langendorff protocol. Induction of global ischemia was performed, followed by during reperfusion assessment of cardiac functions. Determination of incidence of cardiac arrhythmias was made by electrocardiogram. Major outcomes include echocardiographic data, suggesting that α-MSH has mild effects on systolic parameters, along with potent antiarrhythmic effects. Of particular significance was the specificity of dilatative effects on coronary vasculature, and similar outcomes of aortic ring experiments, which potentially allow different doses of the compound to be used to selectively target various portions of the vasculature for dilation.