Barbaloin pretreatment attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury via activation of AMPK

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications Vol. 490; no. 4; pp. 1215 - 1220
• Main Authors: Zhang, Peiyong, Liu, Xiaochen, Huang, Guotao, Bai, Caiyan, Zhang, Zhenling, Li, Hongjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 02.09.2017
• Subjects: AMP-Activated Protein Kinases - metabolism; AMPK; Animals; Anthracenes - pharmacology; Barbaloin; Enzyme Activation - drug effects; Inflammation; Male; Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - drug therapy; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - metabolism; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - pathology; Oxidative stress; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Structure-Activity Relationship; Oxidative stress; MABP; MCP-1; Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion; LVSP; GLU4; SOD; Inflammation; HR; PGC-1α; MDA; IL-6; IL-10; BAR; TNF-α; ROS; AMPK; Barbaloin; MI/R
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.06.188

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury is a major cause of cardiac dysfunction during cardiovascular surgery and heart transplantation and characterized by hyperactive oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Barbaloin (BAR) is the main medicinal composition of the Chinese traditional medicine aloe vera. BAR has strong anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties. However, the effect of BAR on MI/R-induced myocardial injury is not explored. This study aims to investigate whether BAR provides cardio-protection against MI/R injury and the underlying mechanisms. BAR (20 mg/kg/d) or vehicle was intragastrically administered to Sprague-Dawley rats for 5 days before MI/R operation. BAR pretreatment conferred cardio-protective effects against MI/R injury by improving hemodynamic function and limiting infarction size. Moreover, BAR pretreatment effectively inhibited I/R-induced myocardial oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Furthermore, BAR pretreatment activated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling in MI/R hearts. AMPK inhibitor compound C inhibited BAR-induced AMPK activation, and blunted BAR-mediated anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory effects and cardio-protection. Taken together our study has identified a novel function of BAR and provided a molecular basis for BAR potential applications in the treatment of MI/R injury and other ischemic disorders. •Barbaloin protects against ischemia-reperfusion-induced myocardial injury.•Barbaloin attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion-associated oxidative stress and inflammation.•AMPK signaling contributes to the cardioprotection of barbaloin.