Protective Effect of Dimethyl sulfoxide on Acute Myocardial Infarction in Rats

Promoting mitochondrial fusion in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity: a novel therapeutic target for cardioprotection

Changes in mitochondrial dynamics have been recognized as being one of the mechanisms related to cardiotoxicity following a high cumulative dose of doxorubicin (DOX).  A mitochondrial division inhibitor (Mdivi-1) and fusion promoter (M1) have been shown to be cardioprotective in a variety of cardiovascular settings, however their anti-cardiotoxic efficacy against DOX therapy remains unclear.  We therefore investigated whether treatment with Mdivi-1 and M1 protect the heart against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity via mitochondria-targeted pathways.  Male Wistar rats (n=40) received DOX (3 mg/kg, 6 doses, n=32) or 3% DMSO in the normal saline solution (NSS) (n=8) as a control.  DOX-injected rats were given one of four treatments beginning with the first DOX injection via intraperitoneal injection: 1) 3% DMSO in NSS (n=8), 2) Mdivi-1 (1.2 mg/kg/day, n=8), 3) M1 (2 mg/kg/day, n=8), and 4) Mdivi-1+M1 (n=8) for 30 days.  Cardiac function, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, myocardial injury, and protein expression associated with inflammation, autophagy, mitophagy, apoptosis and mitochondrial dynamics were determined.  DOX caused a significant deterioration in mitochondrial function and dynamic regulation, and an increase in markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, myocardial injury, apoptosis, autophagy, and mitophagy, resulting in impaired cardiac function.  Co-treatment of DOX with Mdivi-1, M1, or a combination of the two mitigated these detrimental effects of DOX.  These findings imply that either inhibiting fission or promoting fusion of mitochondria protects the heart from DOX-induced myocardial damage.  Modulation of mitochondrial dynamics could be a novel therapeutic target in alleviating DOX-induced cytotoxic effects without compromising its anti-cancer efficacy.

The Implication of Low Dose Dimethyl Sulfoxide on Mitochondrial Function and Oxidative Damage in Cultured Cardiac and Cancer Cells

Although numerous studies have demonstrated the biological and multifaceted nature of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) across different in vitro models, the direct effect of "non-toxic" low DMSO doses on cardiac and cancer cells has not been clearly explored. In the present study, H9c2 cardiomyoblasts and MCF-7 breast cancer cells were treated with varying concentrations of DMSO (0.001-3.7%) for 6 days. Here, DMSO doses < 0.5% enhanced the cardiomyoblasts respiratory control ratio and cellular viability relative to the control cells. However, 3.7% DMSO exposure enhanced the rate of apoptosis, which was driven by mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in the cardiomyoblasts. Additionally, in the cancer cells, DMSO (≥0.009) led to a reduction in the cell's maximal respiratory capacity and ATP-linked respiration and turnover. As a result, the reduced bioenergetics accelerated ROS production whilst increasing early and late apoptosis in these cells. Surprisingly, 0.001% DMSO exposure led to a significant increase in the cancer cells proliferative activity. The latter, therefore, suggests that the use of DMSO, as a solvent or therapeutic compound, should be applied with caution in the cancer cells. Paradoxically, in the cardiomyoblasts, the application of DMSO (≤0.5%) demonstrated no cytotoxic or overt therapeutic benefits.

Pharmacological postconditioning with atorvastatin calcium attenuates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in diabetic rats by phosphorylating GSK3β

Diabetes is an independent risk factor for myocardial ischemia, and many epidemiological data and laboratory studies have revealed that diabetes significantly exacerbated myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and ameliorated protective effects. The present study aimed to determine whether pharmacological postconditioning with atorvastatin calcium lessened diabetic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, and investigated the role of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3β) in this. A total of 72 streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were randomly divided into six groups, and 24 age-matched male non-diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups. Rats all received 40 min myocardial ischemia followed by 180 min reperfusion, except sham-operated groups. Compared with the non-diabetic ischemia/reperfusion model group, the diabetic ischemia/reperfusion group had a comparable myocardial infarct size, but a higher level of serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and morphological alterations to their myocardial cells. Compared with the diabetic ischemia/reperfusion group, the group that received pharmacological postconditioning with atorvastatin calcium had smaller myocardial infarct sizes, lower levels of cTnI, reduced morphological alterations to myocardial cells, higher levels of p-GSK3β, heat shock factor (HSF)-1 and heat shock protein (HSP)70. The cardioprotective effect conferred by atorvastatin calcium did not attenuate myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury following application of TDZD-8, which phosphorylates and inactivates GSK3β. Pharmacological postconditioning with atorvastatin calcium may attenuate diabetic heart ischemia/reperfusion injury in the current context. The phosphorylation of GSK3β serves a critical role during the cardioprotection in diabetic rats, and p-GSK3β may accelerate HSP70 production partially by activating HSF-1 during myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury.