Injury caused by alcoholic cardiomyopathy in spontaneous ethanol drinking rats

Abstract

When speaking of pathologies caused or aggravated by the constant ingestion of ethanol, people with liver and central nervous system diseases soon come to mind, however, the acute intake of large amounts of ethanol and chronic abuse induce toxic effects in the majority of tissues. The heart is highlighted, since alcoholic cardiomyopathy (AC) has prevalence among alcoholics of 23 to 40% and occurs more frequently in men than in women. AC is characterized by dilation and poor contraction of one or both ventricles in the presence of increased ventricular wall thickness, along with a long history of ethanol abuse and no other cause identified. Our aim is to quantify the rate of cardiac tissue replacement, collagen fiber deposition and pro inflammatory cytokines in the left ventricle myocardium of volunteer ethanol drinking rats.