JAK2/STAT3 pathway mediates beneficial effects of pterostilbene on cardiac contractile and electrical function in the setting of myocardial reperfusion injury

Abstract

Contractile dysfunction and fatal arrhythmias are the hallmarks of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Pterostilbene has notable cardioprotective effects, but its main mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we investigated the effect of PTE on myocardial hemodynamics, arrhythmias, inflammatory/oxidative responses, and the causal role of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in rats with acute myocardial I/R injury. Sixty male 7-8 months Sprague-Dawley rats (n=10/each group) experienced in vivo model of myocardial I/R injury through 40-min LAD coronary artery occlusion and subsequent 24-h reperfusion. PTE at concentrations of 5 and 25 mg/kg was intraperitoneally administered to rats five min before reperfusion. Cardiac hemodynamics, reperfusion-induced ventricular arrhythmias, infarct size, inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress markers, the activity of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway were measured as the endpoints. Administration of PTE to I/R-injured rats recovered myocardial contractile function and reduced infarct size and ventricular arrhythmias counts and incidence in a dose-dependent manner. PTE at 25 mg/kg significantly and more potently reduced the levels of inflammatory mediators NF-?B, TNF-?, and IL-1?, suppressed intracellular ROS production, augmented the activity of glutathione, and manganese-superoxide dismutase, and upregulated the JAK2 and STAT3 phosphorylation. Importantly, pretreatment of rats with Ag490 as a JAK2 inhibitor significantly abolished the cardioprotective and signaling effects of PTE in I/R rats. PTE exerts significant protective effects on reducing arrhythmias and myocardial infarction and enhancing cardiac function by stimulating JAK2/STAT3-related suppression of inflammatory and oxidative reactions in the I/R injury setting.