Small Left Heart Syndrome And Post-Coronary Artery Ligation Outcomes In Mice

OBJECTIVE Test the hypothesis that neonatal SSRI exposed mice will have worsened cardiac function and mortality following myocardial infarctions. METHODS C57BL/6 pups received saline (10 ml/kg IP) or sertraline (5 mg/kg IP) on postnatal days 1–14. At 5 months, pups were implanted with telemeters. Mice then underwent left coronary artery ligation and were monitored by telemetry until death or 4 weeks post‐ligation. Echocardiograms were obtained at baseline and weekly following infarctions. Infarct area was measured on immersion‐fixed left ventricular sections. RESULTS At baseline, sertraline exposed mice had increased heart rates, decreased left ventricular volumes, and decreased stroke volumes. Following coronary artery ligation, sertraline exposed mice had increased heart rates compared to control mice (control 470 ± 15 bpm, sertraline 516 ± 13 bpm, p<0.05). Post‐MI echocardiography showed decreased ejection fraction in control mice (baseline 60 ± 4%, post‐MI 41 ± 2%, p <0.01) but not SSRI exposed mice. There were no differences in mortality or infarct size between the groups. CONCLUSIONS We speculate SSRI‐induced cardiac growth restriction may provide partial protection from post‐MI dilated cardiomyopathy. With 10% of pregnancies affected by maternal depression, it is crucial to determine the long term adverse effects from early SSRI exposure.