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(Stroke. 2009;40:2560.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Research Letters

Cardiac Dysfunction After Left Permanent Cerebral Focal Ischemia

The Brain and Heart Connection

Jiangyong Min, MD, PhD; Muhammad U. Farooq, MD; Eric Greenberg, BS; Feras Aloka, MD; Archit Bhatt, MD; Mounzer Kassab, MD; James P. Morgan, MD, PhD Arshad Majid, MD

From the Division of Cerebrovascular Diseases, Sparrow Health System (J.M., M.U.F., A.B., M.K., A.M.), the Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology (J.M., M.U.F., E.G., A.B., M.K., A.M.), and the Department of Internal Medicine (F.A.) Michigan State University, East Lansing; and the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine (J.P.M.), St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.

Correspondence to Arshad Majid, MD, Associate Professor and Director, Division of Cerebrovascular Diseases, Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology, A-217 Clinical Center, Michigan State University, 138 Service Road, East Lansing, MI 48824. E-mail arshad.majid{at}ht.msu.edu

Background and Purpose— Stroke can lead to cerebrogenic cardiac arrhythmias. We sought to investigate the effect of ischemic stroke on cardiac function in a mouse model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO).

Methods— Twenty-four hours after the induction of focal ischemia, cardiac function was measured in mice by endovascular catheterization of the heart. Immediately after hemodynamic measurements, mice were euthanized and brains were excised and sectioned to measure infarct volume and the severity of insular cortex injury. Myocardial damage was evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Serum and heart levels of norepinephrine (NE) were also determined.

Results— Cardiac dysfunction occurred in 9 out of 14 mice that underwent left pMCAO. In these 9 mice, the severity of left insular cortex lesion was greater than the mice with normal heart function. The serum and heart levels of NE were significantly higher in left pMCAO mice with heart dysfunction. Liner regression analysis indicates significant inverse correlation between the severity of left insular cortex damage and heart dysfunction. Mice that underwent right pMCAO did not exhibit cardiac dysfunction.

Conclusions— This study shows that left focal cerebral ischemia can produce cardiac dysfunction, which is associated with the extent of left insular cortex damage. Furthermore, mice exhibiting cardiac dysfunction had elevated levels of NE in the serum and heart.

Key Words: mouse focal ischemia • cardiac dysfunction • left insular cortex lesion • norepinephrine

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