Myocardial integrity in citicoline-treated middle cerebral artery occlusion-induced hypoperfusion in Wistar rats; the relationship between the insular and heart

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The study evaluated the histomorphology and histomorphometry of the left ventricle of Wistar rats following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-induced cerebral hypoperfusion. These were with a view to providing insight on the effects cerebral hypoperfusion on myocardial integrity. METHODOLOGY: A total of twenty adult male Wistar rats (200 g -220 g) were used for this study. They were divided into four groups of five rats each. Sham surgery was performed on rats in group 1; MCAO was performed on rats in groups 2-4. Groups 1, 2, and 4 were administered 1ml/kg normal saline intraperitoneal (i. p) while rats in group 3 were treated with 150 mg/kg body weight (i. p) of citicoline daily for 12 weeks respectively. Twenty-four hours after the last administration rats were sacrificed and blood samples were taken for biochemical analysis of brain natriuretic peptide, nitric oxide (NO) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the serum. The heart and brain were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for histological, histochemical, and immunohistochemical studies. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Student Newman-Keuls (SNK) test. Alpha value was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The result showed increased concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide (0.19 ± 0.08 pg/mL) and, LDH (13.20 ± 0.64 u/l), a decrease in the concentration of nitric oxide (0.12 ± 0.08 mmol/L), reduced collagen and glycogen deposit, distortion of the cross-banding pattern of the myocardium and reduced CnTI immunoreactivity in the MCAO-only group; These perturbations were attenuated in the citicoline-treated group. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that citicoline ameliorated MCAO-induced neurological perturbations.