Injury caused by alcoholic cardiomyopathy in volunteer ethanol drinkers rats

• Grant number: 18/26294-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Anatomy
• Principal Investigator: Francisco Eduardo Martinez
• Grantee: Victória Mokarzel de Barros Camargo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

When speaking of pathologies caused or aggravated by the constant ingestion of ethanol, it soon comes to the minds of people connected to the liver and the central nervous system, however, the acute intake of large quantities and the chronic abuse of ethanol induce toxic effects in the majority of the tissues. The heart stands out because alcoholic cardiomyopathy (AC) has a prevalence among alcoholics, from 23 to 40%, and occurs more frequently in men. AC is characterized by dilation and poor contraction of one or both ventricles in the presence of increased ventricular wall thickness, along with a long history of ethanol abuse, with no other cause identified. Our objective is to quantify the rate of cardiac tissue replacement, collagen fiber bundle deposition, and proinflammatory cytokines in the left ventricle myocardium of volunteer ethanol drinking rats.