Merit of Ginseng in the Treatment of Heart Failure in Type 1-Like Diabetic Rats

• Published in: BioMed research international Vol. 2014; no. 2014; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Tsai, Cheng-Chia, Chan, Paul, Chen, Li-Jen, Chang, Chen Kuei, Liu, Zhongmin, Lin, Jia-Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Puplishing Corporation 01.01.2014; Hindawi Publishing Corporation; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Cardiomyopathy; Care and treatment; Comparative analysis; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - physiopathology; Diabetics; Drug dosages; Drug therapy; Experiments; Ginseng; Glucose; Heart failure; Heart Failure - drug therapy; Heart Failure - etiology; Heart Failure - physiopathology; Heart rate; Laboratory animals; Male; Medical research; Neurosurgery; Panax - chemistry; Phosphorylation; Phytotherapy - methods; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; PPAR delta - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Risk factors; Rodents; Studies; Treatment Outcome; Taiwan
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2014/484161

The present study investigated the merit of ginseng in the improvement of heart failure in diabetic rats and the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors δ (PPARδ). We used streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat (STZ-rat) to screen the effects of ginseng on cardiac performance and PPARδ expression. Changes of body weight, water intake, and food intake were compared in three groups of age-matched rats; the normal control (Wistar rats) received vehicle, STZ-rats received vehicle and ginseng-treated STZ-rats. We also determined cardiac performances in addition to blood glucose level in these animals. The protein levels of PPARδ in hearts were identified using Western blotting analysis. In STZ-rats, cardiac performances were decreased but the food intake, water intake, and blood glucose were higher than the vehicle-treated control. After a 7-day treatment of ginseng in STZ-rats, cardiac output was markedly enhanced without changes in diabetic parameters. This treatment with ginseng also increased the PPARδ expression in hearts of STZ-rats. The related signal of cardiac contractility, troponin I phosphorylation, was also raised. Ginseng-induced increasing of cardiac output was reversed by the cotreatment with PPARδ antagonist GSK0660. Thus, we suggest that ginseng could improve heart failure through the increased PPARδ expression in STZ-rats.