Impairment of substrate-mediated mitochondrial respiration in cardiac cells by chloroquine

Chloroquine (CQ) has a long clinical history as an anti-malarial agent and also being used for the treatment of other infections and autoimmune diseases. Recently, this lysosomotropic agent and its derivatives are also been tested as adjuncts alongside conventional anti-cancer treatments in combinatorial therapies. However, their reported cardiotoxicity tends to raise concern over their indiscriminate use. Even though the influence of CQ and its derivatives on cardiac mitochondria is extensively studied in disease models, their impact on cardiac mitochondrial respiration under physiological conditions remains inconclusive. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of CQ on cardiac mitochondrial respiration using both in-vitro and in-vivo model systems. Using high-resolution respirometry in isolated cardiac mitochondria from male C57BL/6 mice treated with intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg/day of CQ for 14 days, CQ was found to impair substrate-mediated mitochondrial respiration in cardiac tissue. In an in-vitro model of H9C2 cardiomyoblasts, incubation with 50 µM of CQ for 24 h disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential, produced mitochondrial fragmentation, decreased mitochondrial respiration and induced superoxide generation. Altogether, our study results indicate that CQ has a deleterious impact on cardiac mitochondrial bioenergetics which in turn suggests that CQ treatment could be an added burden, especially in patients affected with diseases with underlying cardiac complications. As CQ is an inhibitor of the lysosomal pathway, the observed effect could be an outcome of the accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria due to autophagy inhibition.

Diminished substrate-mediated cardiac mitochondrial respiration and elevated autophagy in adult male offspring of gestational diabetic rats

Heart diseases are common in the offspring of diabetic mother (ODM). Defects in mitochondrial metabolism and autophagy may, in part, be responsible for the adverse structural and functional alterations in the heart. The principal objective of this study was to investigate cardiac mitochondrial respiration and autophagy in male and female offspring of diabetic pregnancy at two different developmental stages of life, weaning and adult. Male and female offspring of rats with streptozotocin-induced gestational diabetes were used for the study and compared with offspring of control (non-diabetic) mother (OCM) rats. High-resolution respirometry was used to measure substrate-mediated respiration in mitochondria isolated from ventricular tissues of ODM and OCM. Expression of proteins associated with autophagy and oxidative stress was examined by western blot analysis. Mitochondrial complex I and complex II respiration was significantly reduced in adult male ODM while it was unaltered or less affected in weaning male, adult and weaning female ODM. Elevated autophagy was observed in adult male but not in adult female ODM. Expression of oxidative stress markers was observed to be similar in all the groups. Altered cardiac mitochondrial respiration and autophagy were observed in adult male ODM compared to OCM, while the male and female offspring at weaning stage were less affected. The results of the study show that maternal hyperglycemia affects mitochondrial respiration and autophagy in the ODM heart, which may potentially be responsible for the cardiovascular complications observed in adult life.

Diminished substrate-mediated cardiac mitochondrial respiration and elevated autophagy in adult male offspring of gestational diabetic rats

OBJECTIVE

Heart diseases are common in offspring of gestational diabetic mother (ODM). Defects in mitochondrial metabolism and autophagy may be one of the basic reasons behind the abnormal structural and functional behaviour of offspring's heart. So the main objective of the present study was to explore the cardiac mitochondrial respiration and autophagy in male and female offspring of diabetic pregnancy at two different developmental stages of life.

METHODS

High-resolution respirometry was used to measure substrate-mediated mitochondrial respiration in isolated mitochondria from ventricular tissues of offspring of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mother rats. To find the expression of proteins involved in autophagic process and oxidative stress, western blotting and densitometric analysis were done.

RESULTS

Mitochondrial complex I and complex II respiration was found to be decreased in adult male offspring while it was unaltered or less affected in weaning male and female offspring. Elevated autophagy was shown by adult male, while there was no change observed in adult female. Also absence of elevated expression of oxidative stress markers was observed in all groups.

CONCUSION

The present study reports altered cardiac mitochondrial respiration and autophagy in male offspring of diabetic mothers than the control ones. The study also analysed the expression of various candidates of cardiac autophagic process in male and female offspring of diabetic pregnancy at two time points of development.