Cardiac gap junctions have been implicated in maintaining intercellular electrical and metabolic couplings. The abnormalities in connexin-43 (Cx43) lead to conduction defects and contractile dysfunction. We have evaluated the expression and phoshorylation status of Cx43 in the left ventricular myocardium of male and female 16-month-old rats submitted to 14-week L-thyroxine (T4) treatment. Western blot analysis revealed the presence of fully or intermediately phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of Cx43. We have found no significant differences in Cx43 expression and phosphorylation between T4-treated and control untreated animals. However, expression of Cx43 was significantly higher in female compared to male rats. We conclude that T4 administration has no effect on Cx43 expression, but there are sex-dependent differences in Cx43 expression in the left ventricles between aging male and female rats.

Institute for Heart Research Slovak Academy of Sciences Dúbravská cesta 9 840 05 Bratislava P O Box 104 Slovakia and Imperial College Royal Brompton Hospital London UK

Omacor Protects Normotensive and Hypertensive Rats Exposed to Continuous Light from Increased Risk to Malignant Cardiac Arrhythmias

Altered thyroid status affects myocardial expression of connexin-43 and susceptibility of rat heart to malignant arrhythmias that can be partially normalized by red palm oil intake