Polymicrobial sepsis-induced Myocardial Depression Transcriptional Profile

To describe the transcriptional changes associated with polymicrobial-sepsis induced myocardial depression in wild type and iNOS deficient mice. Keywords: myocardium, contractility, differential gene expression, nitric oxide synthase, infection We compared the transcriptional profile of C57/BL6 WT mice and congenic B6 129P2-Nos2tm1Lau/J mice after 48 hrs of polymicrobial sepsis induced by caecal ligation and perforation. 48 hours after surgery, mice were anaesthetised (intraperitoneal 100 mg/kg ketamine and 10 mg/kg xylazine). The right common carotid artery was cannulated (Millar Mikro-Tip pressure transducing catheter: 1.4F sensor, 2F catheter; Houston TX). Pressure tracings from the aorta and left ventricle were recorded (SonoLAB software; Sonometrics Corp., London Ontario Canada) and analysed using Cardiosoft and Origin 6.0 (Sonometrics Corp., and Microcal Software, Northampton MA). The heart was removed, emptied of blood, and snap frozen.