Possible Involvement of Apoptotic Death of Myocytes in Left Ventricular Remodeling after Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Pathophysiological roles of apoptosis in post-infarction left ventricular (LV) remodeling have not been well characterized. This study showed that TUNEL- or cleaved caspase-3–positive myocytes were identified late after ligation of the left coronary artery in rats, suggesting that apoptotic myocyte death contributed to the morphological change associated with LV remodeling.