Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of rosiglitazone (Avandia(®)) on gene expression in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes.
Materials & methods: Myocytes were exposed to rosiglitazone ex vivo. The two factors examined in the experiment were drug exposure (rosiglitazone and dimethyl sulfoxide vs dimethyl sulfoxide), and length of exposure to drug (½ h, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 8 h, 12 h, 18 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h).
Results: Transcripts that were consistently expressed in response to the drug were identified. Cardiovascular system development, extracellular matrix and immune response are represented prominently among the significantly modified gene ontology terms.
Conclusion: Hmgcs2, Angptl4, Cpt1a, Cyp1b1, Ech1 and Nqo1 mRNAs were strongly upregulated in cells exposed to rosiglitazone. Enrichment of transcripts involved in cardiac muscle cell differentiation and the extracellular matrix provides a panel of biomarkers for further analysis in the context of adverse cardiac outcomes in humans. Original submitted 15 November 2013; Revision submitted 14 February 2014.
Keywords: Avandia®; NRVMs; PPAR-γ; T2DM; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; neonatal rat ventricular myocytes; peroxisome; proliferator-activated receptor-γ; rosiglitazone.