Guanxintai Exerts Protective Effects on Ischemic Cardiomyocytes by Mitigating Oxidative Stress.

Jing Yang,Hongyan Chen,Yuling Hou,Weiju Sun,Junfeng Sun,Lu Fu,Fengyue Wang,Haiyan Guo

doi:10.1155/2017/4534387

Abstract

Oxidative stress participates in numerous myocardial pathophysiological processes and is considered a therapeutic target for myocardial ischemia and heart failure. Guanxintai (GXT), a traditional Chinese medicine, is commonly used to treat cardiovascular disease on account of its numerous beneficial physiological activities, such as dilating coronary arteries, inhibiting platelet aggregation, and reducing the serum lipid content. However, the antioxidative properties of GXT and potential underlying mechanisms remain to be established. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of GXT on ischemic cardiomyocytes and the associated antioxidative mechanisms, both in vivo and in vitro. Notably, GXT treatment reduced the degree of cardiomyocyte injury, myocardial apoptosis, and fibrosis and partially improved cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Furthermore, GXT suppressed the level of ROS as well as expression of NADPH oxidase (NOX) and phospho-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) proteins. Our results collectively suggest that the protective effects of GXT on ischemic cardiomyocytes are exerted through its antioxidative activity of NOX inhibition.

Highlights

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of cardiovascular disease
Compared with the sham-operated group, we observed a significant increase in Left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) and left ventricular end-systole dimension (LVESD) and, a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and fractional shortening (FS) in the MI group, indicating heart dilatation and reduction of cardiac function
No significant differences were evident between the GXT + MI and MI groups in terms of LVEF and FS, we observed a tendency of improvement after GXT treatment

Summary

Introduction

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and subsequent heart failure cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. Oxidative stress is involved in cardiomyocyte apoptosis, fibrosis, arrhythmia, and myocardial hypertrophy, which promote the development of heart failure after MI. Suppression of oxidative stress via knockdown of NOX2 and NOX4 is reported to attenuate cardiac remodeling and dysfunction [3], supporting the potential utility of antioxidative therapy as a novel strategy for MI. The treatment is developed according to pathogenesis of CHD and composed of Ginseng, Astragalus, Rehmannia, Ophiopogon root, Schisandra chinensis, Frankincense, Myrrh, Angelica root, Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Fructus liquidambaris, Radix cyathulae, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Acorusgramineus, and Motherwort. A number of effective components of GXT, such as Astragalus and Salvia miltiorrhiza, have been shown to possess antioxidative

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