Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 in the Inflammation of the Myocardium and Vascular Tissue of Obese Mice

This study aimed to investigate the relationship of BMP4 with obesity and cardiovascular disease. Ob/ob mice were used as the experimental group, and C57BL/6 mice were used as the control group. The two groups were further divided into 2 subgroups based on the mice carrying adenovirus-encoding shRNA for BMP4 or Lac Z genes. The messenger RNA and protein levels of BMP4, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-9 were significantly higher in the myocardial tissue and aorta of ob/ob+ Lac Z shRNA than those in the other 3 groups, whereas the levels in the ob/ob+ BMP4 shRNA group were significantly decreased and comparable with those in the control groups. BMP4 is significantly upregulated in the myocardial tissue and aorta of obese mice, and this suggests that BMP4 is an risk factor involved in the local inflammatory response.
Source: Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology - Category: Cardiology Tags: Original Article Source Type: research