Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effect of fenofibrate on nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in cardiac muscle and the preventive effect of fenofibrate on myocardial remodeling. Methods: Twenty-two spontaneous hypertensive rats （SHR） were randomly divided into two groups: a spontaneous hypertensive rat (SHR) group(n=10) and a fenofibrate group(n=12). A same age Wistar-kyoto(WKY) rat group(n=10) was selected as controls. The fenofibrate group was given drugs for 8 weeks. At the beginning and ending of the experiment, echocardiographic scanning was performed in each group. At the end of the experiment, the rats were executed and the cardiac muscle was examined histologically. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of NF-κB. Results: At the end of the experiment, compared with the WKY group,the ventricular thickness and the ratio of left ventricle weight to body weight in the SHK group were significantly increased(P＜0.05). Compared with the SHR group, the above parameters in the fenofibrate group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05). The expression of cardiacal NF-κB mRNA in the SHR group was significantly higher than that in the WKY group(P＜0.05), but showed a down regulation in the fenofibrate group(P＜0.05). By immunohistochemistry, NF-κB staining in SHR group was strong and located at fargoing cardiac muscle tissues, but was weak and located within limits in fenofibrate group. Conclusion: The expression of NF-κB increases in cardiac muscle of SHR. Fenofibrate may delay the development of myocardial remodeling by decreasing the expression of NF-κB.

Key words: Ventricular remodeling, NF-κappa B, Fenofibrate, Rats, inbred SHR