Protective effects and mechanisms of lycorine against adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity

Identification of Dalbergiae Odoriferae Lignum active ingredients and potential mechanisms in the treatment of adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity based on network pharmacology and experimental verification

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ingredients and mechanisms through which Dalbergiae Odoriferae Lignum (DOL) reduces adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity. DOL's ingredients and drug targets were acquired from Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), and adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity disease targets were gathered from GeneCards and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The therapeutic targets of DOL against adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity were identified by intersecting drug and disease targets. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were conducted using R. Subsequently, core targets were determined and used for molecular docking with DOL ingredients. In vitro and in vivo experiments validated DOL's primary ingredients against adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity efficacy. Western blot and immunohistochemistry verified its impact on target protein. After intersecting 530 drug targets and 51 disease targets, 19 therapeutic targets for DOL alleviated adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity were received. Molecular docking demonstrated that DOL primary ingredient formononetin had a robust binding affinity for nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3). Experimental results showed that formononetin effectively mitigated adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity. Additionally, western blot and immunohistochemistry showed that formononetin improved NOS3 expression. The network pharmacology and experimentation suggest that the primary ingredient of DOL, formononetin, may target NOS3 to act as a therapeutic agent for adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity.

Identifying and validating potential therapeutic targets for septic heart failure and the cardioprotective effects of lycorine

BACKGROUND

Septic heart failure has been recognized as a puzzle since antiquity and poses a major challenge to modern medicine. Our previous work has demonstrated the potential effects of lycorine (LYC) on sepsis and septic myocardial injury. Nonetheless, further exploration is needed to elucidate the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms.

METHODS

In this study, we conducted transcriptome analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify the key genes and reveal the mechanism of LYC against septic heart failure.

PURPOSE

This study aims to apply bioinformatic analysis and experimental validations to explore the protective effects and underlying mechanism of LYC on the cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis model mice.

RESULTS

Transcriptome analysis revealed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) following LYC treatment. WGCNA analysis identified gene modules associated with LYC-mediated protection, with BCL3 emerging as a core gene within these modules. Notably, BCL3 was an overlapping gene of DEGs and WGCNA core genes induced by LYC treatment, and is highly negatively correlated with cardiac function indicator. In vivo and in vitro study further prove that LYC exerted a protective effect against septic myocardial injury through inhibiting BCL3. BCL3 siRNA ameliorated LPS-induced cardiac injury and inflammation, while BCL3 overexpression reversed the protective effect of LYC against LPS injury.

CONCLUSION

In summary, our findings demonstrate the significant attenuation of septic myocardial disorder by LYC, with the identification of BCL3 as a pivotal target gene. This study is the first to report the role of BCL3 in sepsis and septic myocardial injury. Furthermore, the strategy for hub genes screening used in our study facilitates a comprehensive exploration of septic targets and reveals the potential targets for LYC effect. These findings may offer a new therapeutic strategy for the management of septic heart failure, highlighting the cardioprotective effect of LYC as adjunctive therapy for sepsis management.

Isopropyl 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) 2-hydroxypropanoate protects septic myocardial injury via regulating GAS6/Axl-AMPK signaling pathway

In a previous study, we used metabolomic techniques to identify a new metabolite of Danshen Dripping Pills called isopropyl 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-hydroxypropanoate (IDHP), which has potential as a drug candidate for cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to explore the protective effects of IDHP against septic myocardial injury, as well as its molecular mechanism. Wild type or GAS6 knockout mice injured by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) were used to observe the effect of IDHP. Here, we found that a specific concentration of IDHP (60 mg/kg) significantly increased the survival rate of septic mice to about 75 % at 72 h post CLP, and showed improvements in sepsis score, blood biochemistry parameters, cardiac function, and myocardial tissue damage. Furthermore, IDHP inhibited myocardial oxidative stress, inflammatory response, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Molecularly, we discovered that IDHP treatment reversed the CLP-induced downregulation of GAS6, Axl, and p-AMPK/AMPK expression. In addition, GAS6 knockout reversed the positive effect of IDHP in septic mice, indicated by more severe myocardial tissue damage, oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and mitochondrial dysfunction. GAS6 knockout also resulted in decreased levels of GAS6, Axl, and p-AMPK/AMPK. Taken together, our study provides evidence that IDHP has significant cardioprotective effects against sepsis by regulating the GAS6/Axl-AMPK signaling pathway. This finding has important therapeutic potential for treating sepsis.