49 Glucagon-like peptide-1 protects against cardiac remodelling after myocardial infarction via specific actions on the extracellular matrix

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an insulin-releasing hormone clinically-approved for glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes, which also has important cardiovascular actions. Several groups have shown that GLP-1 protects cardiomyocytes from acute ischaemic damage. Here, we investigated whether exendin-4, a stable GLP-1 mimetic, has beneficial effects on chronic cardiac remodelling following myocardial infarction (MI). Adult normoglycaemic C57BL/6J female mice (8–10 weeks) were subjected to coronary artery ligation or sham surgery and chronically-infused with exendin-4 (25 nmol/kg/day) or vehicle for 4 weeks (n‰¥18). Echocardiography indicated that exendin-4 protected against left ventricular (LV) systolic (ejection fraction: sham, 57.8±8.6 vs MI, 43.5%±6.5%, p