Narges Marefati
1,2 
, Farimah Beheshti
3,4, Akbar Anaeigoudari
5, Fatemeh Alipour
6, Reyhaneh Shafieian
6, Fatemeh Akbari
7, Maryam Pirasteh
8, Maryam Mahmoudabady
2,7, Hossein Salmani
9, Sara Mawdodi
10, Mahmoud Hosseini
7,11* 1 Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
3 Neuroscience Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
4 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
5 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran
6 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
7 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
8 Neuroscience Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
9 Student Research Committee, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran
10 Pharmacological Research Center of Medicinal Plants, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
11 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Inflammation and oxidative stress are contributed to cardiovascular diseases. Vitamin D (Vit D) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In the current research, the effect of Vit D on cardiac fibrosis and inflammation, and oxidative stress indicators in cardiovascular tissues was studied in lipopolysaccharides(LPS) injected rats.
Methods: Rats were distributed into 5 groups and were treated for 2 weeks. Control: received vehicle(saline supplemented with tween-80) instead of Vit D and saline instead of LPS, LPS: treated by 1 mg/kg of LPS and was given vehicle instead of Vit D, LPS-Vit D groups: received 3 doses of Vit D (100, 1000, and 10000 IU/kg) of Vit D in addition to LPS. Vit D was dissolved in saline supplemented with tween-80 (final concentration 0.1%) and LPS was dissolved in saline. The white blood cell (WBC) was counted. Oxidative stress markers were determined in serum, aorta, and heart. Cardiac tissue fibrosis was also estimated using Masson’s trichrome staining method.
Results: WBC and malondialdehyde (MDA) were higher in the LPS group than the control group, whereas the thiol content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) were lower in the LPS group than the control group (P<0.01 and P<0.001). Administration of Vit D decreased WBC (P<0.001) and MDA (P<0.05 and P<0.001) while enhanced thiol (dose 10000 IU/Kg) (P<0.001), SOD (dose 10000 IU/kg) (P<0.001), and CAT (P<0.05 and P<0.001) compared to the LPS group. All doses of Vit D also decreased cardiac fibrosis compared to the LPS group (P<0.001).
Conclusion: Vit D protected the cardiovascular against the detrimental effect of LPS. This cardiovascular protection can be attributed to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Vit D.