Quercetin Exerts Age-Dependent Beneficial Effects on Blood Pressure and Vascular Function, But Is Inefficient in Preventing Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 1; p. 187
• Main Authors: Ferenczyova, Kristina, Kalocayova, Barbora, Kindernay, Lucia, Jelemensky, Marek, Balis, Peter, Berenyiova, Andrea, Zemancikova, Anna, Farkasova, Veronika, Sykora, Matus, Tothova, Lubomira, Jasenovec, Tomas, Radosinska, Jana, Torok, Jozef, Cacanyiova, Sona, Barancik, Miroslav, Bartekova, Monika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.01.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: 1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; Age; AKT protein; Animals; Antihypertensives; Biometrics; Blood pressure; cardiovascular disease; Cholesterol; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Endothelium; Experiments; Heart; Hypertension; infarct size; Injury prevention; Ischemia; ischemia-reperfusion injury; Lipoproteins; Metabolic syndrome; Myocardial ischemia; Nitric oxide; Obesity; Plasma; Pressure effects; Protein kinase C; Quercetin; Reperfusion; risk pathway; Rodents; Triglycerides; vascular relaxation; Western blotting; ischemia-reperfusion injury; blood pressure; cardiovascular disease; infarct size; quercetin; RISK pathway; vascular relaxation
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules25010187

: Quercetin (QCT) was shown to exert beneficial cardiovascular effects in young healthy animals. The aim of the present study was to determine cardiovascular benefits of QCT in older, 6-month and 1-year-old Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats (model of type 2 diabetes). : Lean (fa/+) and obese (fa/fa) ZDF rats of both ages were treated with QCT for 6 weeks (20 mg/kg/day). Isolated hearts were exposed to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury (30 min/2 h). Endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation was measured in isolated aortas. Expression of selected proteins in heart tissue was detected by Western blotting. : QCT reduced systolic blood pressure in both lean and obese 6-month-old rats but had no effect in 1-year-old rats. Diabetes worsened vascular relaxation in both ages. QCT improved vascular relaxation in 6-month-old but worsened in 1-year-old obese rats and had no impact in lean controls of both ages. QCT did not exert cardioprotective effects against I/R injury and even worsened post-ischemic recovery in 1-year-old hearts. QCT up-regulated expression of eNOS in younger and PKCε expression in older rats but did not activate whole PI3K/Akt pathway. : QCT might be beneficial for vascular function in diabetes type 2; however, increasing age and/or progression of diabetes may confound its vasculoprotective effects. QCT seems to be inefficient in preventing myocardial I/R injury in type 2 diabetes and/or higher age. Impaired activation of PI3K/Akt kinase pathway might be, at least in part, responsible for failing cardioprotection in these subjects.