Long-term effects of alcohol consumption in male and female rats

• Published in: Cardiovascular toxicology Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 247 - 254
• Main Authors: Piano, Mariann R, Geenen, David L, Schwertz, Dorie W, Chowdhury, Shamim A K, Yuzhakova, Milina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Springer Nature B.V 01.12.2007
• Subjects: Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - physiopathology; Animals; Blood Pressure - physiology; Body Weight - drug effects; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated - chemically induced; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated - diagnostic imaging; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated - physiopathology; Central Nervous System Depressants - toxicity; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Echocardiography; Ethanol; Ethanol - toxicity; Female; Heart Rate - physiology; Heart Ventricles - diagnostic imaging; Heart Ventricles - pathology; Male; Organ Size - drug effects; Ovariectomy; Rats; Rodents; Sex Characteristics
• ISSN: 1530-7905; 1559-0259
• DOI: 10.1007/s12012-007-9002-y

Discrepancies exist regarding potential sex differences in the effects of ethanol on the myocardium. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine if long-term ethanol consumption was associated with the development of a dilated cardiomyopathy (CM) in female rats and, second, to determine if the absence of ovarian hormones modulated this effect. Adult male and female (n=6-8/group) sham-operated and ovariectomized (OVX) Sprague-Dawley rats received the Lieber DeCarli ethanol-containing (8% vol/vol) or control liquid diet for 8 months. All ethanol groups showed echocardiographic evidence of a cardiomyopathy; however, more significant ethanol-elicited differences were found in the male ethanol group than in either the female or female OVX groups. In addition, the male ethanol group had significant reductions in in vivo measures of contractility, such as the maximum derivative of change in systolic pressure and preload recruitable stroke work. Sex differences were also apparent in the pattern and degree of posterior and septal wall thickness changes, in that the male ethanol group had more posterior and septal wall thinning. In conclusion, similar to male rats long-term ethanol consumption in gonad-intact and OVX female rats is associated with the development of a dilated cardiomyopathy.