Asiatic Acid Attenuates Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury via Akt/GSK-3β/HIF-1α Signaling in Rat H9c2 Cardiomyocytes

Bibliographic Details
Title: Asiatic Acid Attenuates Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury via Akt/GSK-3β/HIF-1α Signaling in Rat H9c2 Cardiomyocytes
Authors: Xiang Huang, Li Zuo, Yanni Lv, Chuqiao Chen, Yaqin Yang, Hongbo Xin, Yunman Li, Yisong Qian
Source: Molecules, Vol 21, Iss 9, p 1248 (2016)
Publisher Information: MDPI AG, 2016.
Publication Year: 2016
Collection: LCC:Organic chemistry
Subject Terms: asiatic acid, myocardial ischemia, OGD/R, Akt, HIF-1α, Organic chemistry, QD241-441
More Details: Myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury results from severe impairment of coronary blood supply and leads to irreversible cell death, with limited therapeutic possibilities. Asiatic acid is a pentacyclic triterpenoid derived from the tropical medicinal plant Centella asiatica and serves a variety of bioactivities. In this study, we determined the effect of asiatic acid on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and investigated the underlying mechanisms, using an in vitro rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes model of oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) injury. Results showed that pre-treatment with asiatic acid significantly augmented cell viability and prevented lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in a concentration-dependent manner after OGD/R exposure. Asiatic acid at 10 μM effectively inhibited apoptotic cell death, suppressed the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9, and reversed Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in hypoxic H9c2 cells. In addition, asiatic acid improved mitochondrial function, as evidenced by reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential and decreased intracellular calcium concentration. Using Western blot assay, we found that asiatic acid promoted the phosphorylation of Akt and subsequent inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), and induced the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) after OGD/R. The cardioprotective effects of asiatic acid were attenuated by the Akt or HIF-1α inhibitor. Taken together, these data suggested that asiatic acid exerted protective effects against OGD/R-induced apoptosis in cardiomyocytes, at least partly via the Akt/GSK-3β/HIF-1α pathway.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1420-3049
Relation: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/21/9/1248; https://doaj.org/toc/1420-3049
DOI: 10.3390/molecules21091248
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/e497de69cf6b4f9a881469bda2f9e34a
Accession Number: edsdoj.497de69cf6b4f9a881469bda2f9e34a
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:14203049
DOI:10.3390/molecules21091248
Published in:Molecules
Language:English