Open Access

ARTICLE

Cardiac Rehabilitation by Pulmonary Artery Banding after Induced Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Pilot Study on a Rodent Model

by Domenico Crea¹, Arben Dedja¹, Matteo Ponzoni^1,2, Stefania Rizzo³, Alberto Cipriani⁴, Riccardo Bariani⁴, Kalliopi Pilichou³, Maria Bueno Marinas³, Danila Azzolina⁵, Massimo A. Padalino^1,6,*

1 Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova, 35128, Italy
2 Division of Cardiac Surgery, The Sick Children’s Hospital, Toronto, ON M5G 1E8, Canada
3 Cardiovascular Pathology, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova, 35128, Italy
4 Cardiology Clinic, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova, 35128, Italy
5 Department of Environmental and Preventive Science, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, 44121, Italy
6 Department Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Jonian Area, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, 70124, Italy

* Corresponding Author: Massimo A. Padalino. Email:

Congenital Heart Disease 2024, 19(5), 473-487. https://doi.org/10.32604/chd.2025.057014

Received 05 August 2024; Accepted 25 November 2024; Issue published 31 December 2024

Abstract

Background: Since 2015, the pulmonary artery banding (PAB), following the Giessen protocol, has treated end-stage heart failure in selected infants with preserved right ventricular function, acting as a bridge to transplant or recovery, as a result of ventricular-ventricular interaction. Objectives: To elucidate whether PAB is a feasible and reproducible procedure in a rodent model of pharmacologically induced dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and to evaluate PAB-induced ventricular rehabilitation. Methods: We used 49 Sprague-Dawley rats divided into four groups: a sham surgery control group, a healthy animal group undergoing PAB, a doxorubicin (DOX)- treated control group, and a DOX + PAB-treated group. All underwent echocardiographic, histological, and molecular analyses. Results: Preliminary results showed high mortality in rats with DOX-induced DCM, with contractile dysfunction confirmed by 2D echocardiography. Signs of damage were detected through transmission electron microscopy, but not via standard histological/molecular tests. PAB after DOX improved contractile function, enhancing ejection fraction (p = 0.01) and fractional shortening (p = 0.03). Conclusion: The DOX-induced DCM model, while reproducible, may not reflect DCM’s true pathology. High mortality and individual variability limited the study. Further research is needed to find alternative models with lower mortality and to explore the PAB-induced molecular signaling pathways and cardiac proliferation potential.

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