Investigation of the effects of tadalafil on the myocardium via electrical and isometric contractions and cardiac markers in Wistar rats
Abstract
Purpose: Tadalafil, a long-acting phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, is commonly used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. This study investigates the contribution of tadalafil in cardiac function by measuring isometric and electrical contractions of myocardium in rats.
Materials and Methods: Thirty rats were divided into five groups. Basal electrical contractions were recorded via electrocardiogram (ECG) for intervals PR (ms), QRS (ms), QT (ms), Tp (ms), Te (ms), pathological Q and heart beats/min. Then group 1 received saline for 7 days (control); group 2 received tadalafil 1 mg/kg; group 3 received tadalafil 10 mg/kg; group 4 received tadalafil 1 mg/kg for 7 days; group 5 received tadalafil 10 mg/kg for 7 days. After treatments, electrical contractions were re-performed to analyze the differences in ECG. For isometric contractions, hearts were connected to isometric power transducer to determine myocardial contractile forces (g), durations (ms) and frequencies (Hz). Serum samples were collected for cardiac creatine kinase (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin I via ELISA.
Results: We found a significant decrease in CK-MB in Group 2 (395.56±124.38 pg/ml) and 3 (377.81±79.61 pg/ml), compared to Group 1 (575.32±83.54 pg/ml). The differences in cardiac contractile forces, contraction durations or frequencies were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Tadalafil did not exert obvious distruption on myocardial electrical or isometrical contractions. It is noteworthy that tadalafil 1 and 10 mg/kg reduced serum CK-MB. Shortening in QT and decrease in heart rate may have important implications on myocardial functions.
Keywords
Tadalafil, Muscle contraction, Myocardium, Electrocardiography
Ethical Statement
All experiments were conducted in accordance with the National Institute of Health Guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Experimental protocols were approved by Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Local Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (File No: 2019/01/04, Approval date: 19.02.2019).
References
- Shen X, Chen F, Wang F, Huang P, Luo W. The effect of grapefruit juice on the pharmacokinetics of tadalafil in rats. Biomed Res Int. 2020;2020:1631735.
- Amano T, Earle C, Imao T, Matsumoto Y, Kishikage T. Administration of daily 5 mg tadalafil improves endothelial function in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Aging Male. 2018;21:77-82.
- Mora AG, Andrade DR, Janussi SC, Goncalves TT, Krikorian K, Priviero FBM et al. Tadalafil treatment improves cardiac, renal and lower urinary tract dysfunctions in rats with heart failure. Life Sci. 2022;289:120237.
- Saad NS, Floyd K, Ahmed AA, Mohler PJ, Janssen PM, Elnakish MT. The effect of sorafenib, tadalafil and macitentan treatments on thyroxin-induced hemodynamic changes and cardiac abnormalities. PLoS One. 2016;11:e0153694.
- Ural A, Bilgen F, Altıntaş Aykan D, Koçarslan S, Altıntaş Ural D, Seyithanoğlu M et al. The effect of udenafil on stasis zone in an experimental burn model. Ann Plast Surg. 2022;88:38-43.
- Altıntaş Ural D, Altıntaş Aykan D, Koçarslan S, Doganer A. Effect of tadalafil treatment on ovarian ischemia injury in rats. Cukurova Medical Journal. 2021;46:55-62.
- Altintas Aykan D, Yaman S. Evaluation of the effects of tadalafil on pain response in thermal plantar and dynamic plantar tests in rats. Ann Med Res. 2020;27:749-54.
- Tzoumas N, Farrah TE, Dhaun N, Webb DJ. Established and emerging therapeutic uses of PDE type 5 inhibitors in cardiovascular disease. Br J Pharmacol. 2020;177:5467-88.
- Tham YK, Bernardo BC, Ooi JY, Weeks KL, McMullen JR. Pathophysiology of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure: signaling pathways and novel therapeutic targets. Arch Toxicol. 2015;89:1401-38.
- Abdel Aziz MT, Rezq AM, Atta HM, Fouad H, Zaahkouk AM, Ahmed HH et al. Molecular signalling of a novel curcumin derivative versus Tadalafil in erectile dysfunction. Andrologia. 2015;47:616-25.
