Effects of Simulated Heat Waves on ApoE-/- Mice

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Chunling Wang¹  Shuyu Zhang²  Ying Tian¹  Baojian Wang³ 

[1] School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing 210044, China; E-Mails:;Key Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Reducing Disaster of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Institute of Arid Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, 2070 Donggang East Road, Lanzhou 730020, China;Lanzhou Central Meteorological Observatory, 2070 Donggang East Road, Lanzhou 730020, China; E-Mail:

关键词: heat wave weather;    SOD;    ApoE-/- mice;    coronary disease;    BH4;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110201549

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The effects of simulated heat waves on body weight, body temperature, and biomarkers of cardiac function in ApoE-/- mice were investigated. Heat waves were simulated in a meteorological environment simulation chamber according to data from a heat wave that occurred in July 2001 in Nanjing, China. Eighteen ApoE-/- mice were divided into control group, heat wave group, and heat wave BH4 group. Mice in the heat wave and BH4 groups were exposed to simulated heat waves in the simulation chamber. Mice in BH4 group were treated with gastric lavage with BH4 2 h prior to heat wave exposure. Results showed that the heat waves did not significantly affect body weight or ET-1 levels. However, mice in the heat wave group had significantly higher rectal temperature and NO level and lower SOD activity compared with mice in the control group (p < 0.01), indicating that heat wave had negative effects on cardiac function in ApoE-/- mice. Gastric lavage with BH4 prior to heat wave exposure significantly reduced heat wave-induced increases in rectal temperature and decreases in SOD activity. Additionally, pretreatment with BH4 further increased NO level in plasma. Collectively, these beneficial effects demonstrate that BH4 may potentially mitigate the risk of coronary heart disease in mice under heat wave exposure. These results may be useful when studying the effects of heat waves on humans.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.