Background: Oxidative stress due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is a key factor in the development of heart failure (HF). This study investigated the thioredoxin (Trx) system, which plays a major role in antioxidant defense, in patients suffering from ischemic (ICM) or dilated (DCM) cardiomyopathy.
Methods and results: Myocardial tissue from ICM (n = 13) and DCM (n = 13) patients, as well as septal tissue of patients with aortic stenosis but without diagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or subaortic stenosis (control; n = 12), was analyzed for Trx1, Trx-interacting protein (TXNIP) and E3 ligase ITCH (E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase Itchy homolog) expression. Trx-reductase 1 (TXNRD1) amount and activity, cytosolic cytochrome C content, and apoptosis markers were quantified by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and multiplexing. Compared with control samples, ITCH and Trx1 expression, TXNRD1 amount and activity were reduced and TXNIP expression was increased in ICM (ITCH: P = .013; Trx1: P = .028; TXNRD1 amount: P = .035; TXNRD1 activity: P = .005; TXNIP: P = .014) but not in DCM samples. A higher level of the downstream apoptosis marker caspase-9 (ICM: 582 ± 262 MFI [P = .995]; DCM: 1251 ± 548 MFI [P = .002], control: 561 ± 214 MFI) was detected in DCM tissue. A higher expression of Bcl-2 was found in DCM (P = .011).
Conclusion: The Trx system was impaired in ICM but not in DCM. ITCH appeared to be responsible for the down-regulation of the Trx system. ROS-induced mitochondrial instability appeared to play a role in DCM.
Keywords: E3 ligases; Heart failure; ITCH; TXNIP; cardiomyopathy; thioredoxin.
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