Cardioprotection activity and mechanism of Astragalus polysaccharide in vivo and in vitro

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules Volume 111, May 2018, Pages 947-952 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules Author links open overlay panelDebinLiuaLeiChenbJianyeZhaocKangCuid a Department of Emergency, Linyi People's Hospital, Linyi City, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China b Shandong Academy of Pharmaceutical Science, Key Laboratory of Biopharmaceuticals, Engineering Laboratory of Polysaccharide Drugs, National–Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Polysaccharide Drugs, People's Republic of China c Department of Cardiology, Linyi People's Hospital, Linyi City, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China d Clinnical Laboratory, Linyi People's Hospital,Linyi City, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China Received 17 December 2017, Revised 28 December 2017, Accepted 8 January 2018, Available online 9 January 2018. crossmark-logo https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.01.048 Get rights and content Abstract Astragalus polysaccharides (ASP) is extracted from Astragalus, and is the main active ingredient of Astragalus membranaceus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect of ASP on rat cardiomyocytes damage induced by myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury (MVRI) and isoprenaline(ISO) in vivo and in vitro. The model of cardiomyocytes damage was induced using MVRI in a rat in vivo and also using ISO in cell. After ASP intervention, the protective effect of ASP on cardiomyocytes was evaluated by animal experimental and cell experimental. The results show that ASP can relieve the increase of cell volume in myocardium, reduce the apoptosis of cell in myocardial tissue caused by MVRI in vivo. At the cellular level, ASP can reverse the decrease of cell activity induced by ISO, inhibit the apoptosis, and decrease the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species. Mechanistically at the molecular level, these effects are elicited via down-regulation of the protein levels of caspase-3 and bax and up-regulation of the protein levels of bcl-2 in both in vivo and in vitro. These results demonstrate that ASP has a protective efficacy in MVRI/ISO-treated cardiomyocytes by inhibiting the apoptosis. Previous article Next article Keywords Astragalus polysaccharides Myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury Isoprenaline Apoptosis 1. Introduction Cardiovascular disease has been one of the major diseases that threaten the health of human beings [1, 2]. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of cardiovascular death [3]. The most effective treatment for AMI is to restore blood perfusion as soon as possible to relieve myocardial tissue hypoxia and inadequate supply of nutrients [4]. Studies have shown that early reperfusion can prevent the expansion of myocardial necrosis and reduce infarct size [5, 6]. In recent years, a variety of arteriovenous thrombolysis, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABO), percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and cardiac surgery is widely used in the treatment of AMI [7, 8]. However, clinical and animal studies have found that with the recovery of blood supply, some damaged myocardial cell function and structural damage has worsened [9, 10]. Studies have shown that reperfusion of blood causes an inflammation-like injury called myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury (MVRI) [11, 12]. MVRI is due to a variety of causes of acute myocardial insufficiency after reperfusion therapy can produce a large number of reactive oxygen species (ROS), etc., resulting in varying degrees of myocardial damage [11]. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis is one of the major pathological mechanisms of MVRI [13]. Therefore, the development of anti-apoptotic drugs to block ischemia/reperfusion-induced myocardial injury, thereby alleviating or preventing the occurrence of various heart diseases, provides a new strategy for the treatment of MVRI. Astragalus is one of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicines. It is sweet and warm and has been used for >2000 years as a medicine [14]. At present, Astragalus injection has been widely used clinically, mainly for the treatment of heart disease [15]. Astragalus polysaccharides (ASP) is extracted from Astragalus, and is the main active ingredient of Astragalus membranaceus [16, 17]. Studies have shown that ASP plays an important role in lowering blood sugar, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory and has extensive pharmacological effects in the treatment of cardiac immune disease [16, 18]. Therefore, we hypothesize that whether ASP can inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis and reduce MVRI-induced myocardial damage and then alleviate or prevent the occurrence of various heart diseases. Herein, injury models of cardiomyocytes were induced using surgery (MVRI) and isoproterenol (ISO). After ASP intervention, the protective effect of ASP on cardiomyocytes was evaluated.