Blueberry Extract and Resistance Training Prevent Left Ventricular Redox Dysregulation and Pathological Remodeling in Experimental Severe Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

To investigate whether the regular administration of blueberry extract and low-intensity resistance exercise training (RT), either alone or in combination, during the development of monocrotaline (MCT)-induced severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in rats protect the left ventricle (LV) from redox dysregulation and pathological remodeling. Groups of seven male Wistar rats were formed for the experiment: sedentary control; sedentary hypertensive; sedentary hypertensive blueberry; exercise hypertensive; and exercise hypertensive blueberry. PAH was experimentally induced through a single intraperitoneal administration of MCT at a dose of 60 mg/kg. One day after injection, the blueberry groups started receiving a daily dose of blueberry extract (100 mg/kg) by gavage, while the exercise groups initiated a three-week program of RT (ladder climbing; 15 climbs carrying 60% of maximum load; one session/day; 5 times/week). Echocardiographic evaluations were conducted 23 days after injection, and the rats were euthanized the next day to harvest LV tissue. Separately, blueberry extract and RT mitigated augments in pulmonary artery resistance, LV tissue redox dysregulation (i.e., increased PC levels) and detrimental remodeling (i.e., reduced inflammation), and reductions in ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) caused by PAH. The combination of treatments prevented reductions in EF and FS, along with the development of a D-shaped LV. blueberry extract and moderate-intensity resistance training administered during the development of MCT-induced severe PAH in rats prevented LV redox dysregulation and pathological remodeling, thereby preserving its function.

Keywords

Pulmonary artery resistance Exercise training Left ventricle Redox state Ejection fraction Adverse remodeling Blueberry extract

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10198/34574

Citation

Leite, Luciano Bernardes; Soares, Leôncio Lopes; Guimarães-Ervilha, Luiz Otávio; Costa, Sebastião Felipe Ferreira; Generoso, Sara Caco dos Lúcio; Xavier, Mirielly Alexia Miranda; Iasbik-Lima, Thainá; Oliveira, Leandro Licursi; Lucia, Ceres Mattos Della; Bianchi, Sara Elis; Bassani, Valquíria Linck; Herter, Flavio Gilberto; Turck, Patrick; Araujo, Alex Sander da Rosa; Forte, Pedro; Reis, Emily Correna Carlo; Machado-Neves, Mariana; Natali, Antônio José (2025). Blueberry Extract and Resistance Training Prevent Left Ventricular Redox Dysregulation and Pathological Remodeling in Experimental Severe Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Nutrients. ISSN 2072-6643. 17:7, p. 1-17