Salutary effects of androstenediol on cardiac function and splanchnic perfusion after trauma-hemorrhage.

• Abstract: Recent studies have shown that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration after trauma-hemorrhage (T-H) improves cardiovascular function and decreases cytokine production in male animals. Although androstenediol, one of the metabolites of DHEA, is reported to have estrogen-like activity, it remains unknown whether androstenediol per se has any salutary effects on cytokines and cardiovascular function after T-H. To examine this effect, male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent laparotomy and were bled to and maintained at a mean arterial blood pressure of 35-40 mmHg for approximately 90 min. The animals were resuscitated with four times the volume of maximal bleedout volume in the form of Ringer lactate. Androstenediol (1 mg/kg body wt i.v.) or vehicle was administered at the end of resuscitation. Twenty-four hours after resuscitation, cardiac function and organ blood flow were measured by using (85)Sr-microspheres. Circulating levels of nitrate/nitrite and IL-6 were also determined. Cardiovascular function and organ blood flow were significantly depressed after T-H. However, these parameters were restored by androstenediol treatment. The elevated plasma IL-6 levels after T-H were also lowered by androstenediol treatment. In contrast, plasma levels of nitrate/nitrite were the highest in the androstenediol-treated T-H animals. Because androstenediol administration after T-H decreases cytokine production and improves cardiovascular function, this agent appears to be a novel and useful adjunct for restoring the depressed cardiovascular function and for cytokine production in males after adverse circulatory conditions.
• Authors: Tomoharu Shimizu, Mashkoor A Choudhry, Laszlo Szalay, Loring W Rue 3rd, Kirby I Bland, Irshad H Chaudry (Affiliation: Center for Surgical Research and Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-0019, USA.)
• Journal: American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology (Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol) Vol. 287 Issue 2 Pg. R386-90 (Aug 2004) ISSN: 0363-6119 [Print] United States
• PMID: 15117723 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)

Chemical References

• Anabolic Agents
• Interleukin-6
• Nitrates
• Nitrites
• Nitric Oxide
• Androstenediol
• Nitric Oxide Synthase

Topics

• Anabolic Agents (pharmacology)
• Androstenediol (pharmacology)
• Animals
• Cardiac Output (drug effects)
• Interleukin-6 (blood)
• Laparotomy
• Male
• Nitrates (blood)
• Nitric Oxide (metabolism)
• Nitric Oxide Synthase (metabolism)
• Nitrites (blood)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Shock, Hemorrhagic (drug therapy)
• Splanchnic Circulation (drug effects)