Transcriptional effects of chronic methamphetamine treatment on mouse myocardium

In this study, we constructed a mouse model of methamphetamine-associated cardiomyopathy (MAC). We gave C57Bl/6 mice 10 mg/kg of methamphetamine for 4 weeks. Echocardiographic and myocardial pathological staining revealed hypertrophic and fibrotic remodeling of the myocardium, left ventricular dilatation, and left ventricular ejection fraction decreasing (%LVEF<40%). Interestingly, these findings are consistent with the clinical alterations seen in human MAC patients. Transcriptional analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes were primarily associated with myocyte development and myofibroblast morphogenesis, and that GATA4 was found to be a possible key molecule for this and was explored in vitro. We expect to explore the molecular biological alterations more deeply in the heart after methamphetamine exposure and provide meaningful suggestions for pathogenic mechanisms and more effective potential therapeutic pathways for MAC.Experimental design: Male C57BL/6 mice were given intraperitoneal injections of methamphetamine dissolved in sterile saline twice daily at 12-hour intervals for 4 weeks. Control mice were injected with sterile saline on the same schedule. After the experiment, the hearts were excised and RNA was extracted from the left ventricular myocardial tissue. Transcript dysregulation was identified in the hearts of mice that responded to methamphetamine exposure.