Inhibition of Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis in Aging Rats by Saponins of Panax japonicus via Activating Autophagy
Article
Figures
Metrics
Preview PDF
Reference
Related
Cited by
Materials
Abstract:
The protective effects of total saponins extracted from Panax japonicus (TSPJ) on cardiomyocyte apoptosis in natural aging rats, as well as its underlying mechanism in terms of autophagy was investigated. Male SD rats aged 18 months were randomly divided into 3 groups (model group, low-dose TSPJ group and high-dose TSPJ group), 10 rats in each group. TSPJ groups were given TSPJ at different doses (10 and 30 mg/kg, p.o.), model group was treated with equal normal animal food for 6 months until 24 months old. Another 10 rats aged 6 month (6M) were used controlled group. Compared to young control group, the myocardial cells arranged in disorder, and the muscle fibers broke, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis increased by 3 times in the natural aging group. TSPJ significantly improved the morphology of heart tissue and decreased cardiomyocyte apoptosis by 55% in comparison with natural aging group. Protein expression levels of Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-9 and p62were increased by 9.5, 1.8, 4.1 and 3.4 times, the protein expression levels of Bcl-2, Bcl-2/Bax, LC3Ⅱ/ LC3Ⅰand Beclin1 was deceaesed by 98%, 99%, 70% and 48% in the aging group. TSPJ can effectively inhibit the protein expression of Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-9 and p62 by 87%, 65%, 70% and 65%, and increase the expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-2 /Bax, LC3Ⅱ/ LC3Ⅰand Beclin1 by 12.75, 138.5, 5.68 and 2.6 times in the natural aging heart tissues. The results suggest that TSPJ can effectively improve cardiomyocyte apoptosis in natural aging rats, and its mechanism may be related to regulation of autophagy.
