Alterations of Ca(v)1.2 and 5-hydroxytryptamine in rat hearts after positional asphyxia

Abstract

We investigated alterations of cardiac Ca(v)1.2 and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) associated with positional asphyxia. Male rats were divided into five groups: a control group with no restraint, group 1 restrained for 1 h, group 2 restrained for 2 h, group 3 restrained for 4 h, and group 4 restrained for 8 h. The rats that were restrained for 8 h ultimately suffered fatal asphyxia. After the restraint periods, the rats were sacrificed and immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate the expressions of Ca(v)1.2 and 5-HT in the heart. Sections were analyzed by digital image analysis. Cardiac expression of Ca(v)1.2 and 5-HT proteins were significantly decreased by positional asphyxia in the rat, shown by integrated optical density (IOD) compared to controls. Our findings indicate that Ca(v)1.2 and 5-HT alterations could cause abnormal cardiac function, and the proteins investigated here may be useful for investigating the mechanisms underlying positional asphyxia.

Key words::

• 5-HT
• 5-hydroxytryptamine
• Ca (v)1.2
• positional asphyxia

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from The National Natural Science Foundation of China (81260466) and Dali University (KYBS201104).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.