Ginsenoside Rh2 mitigates myocardial damage in acute myocardial infarction by regulating pyroptosis of cardiomyocytes

ABSTRACT

Background

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the most important causes of mortality among patients with cardiovascular disease. Ginsenoside Rh2 plays a protective role in cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, pyroptosis reportedly participates in regulating the occurrence and development of AMI. However, whether ginsenoside Rh2 contributes to mitigating AMI by regulating cardiomyocyte pyroptosis remains unknown.

Methods

In the present study, we established an AMI model in rats. Next, we determined the effects of ginsenoside Rh2 on AMI by examining the myocardial infarct area, while regulation of myocardial pyroptosis was determined by assessing related factors. We established a cardiomyocyte model using hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treatment. The expression of pyroptosis-related factors was determined following ginsenoside Rh2 treatment. In addition, we evaluated the correlation between ginsenoside Rh2 and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway at the mechanistic level.

Results

Herein, we observed that ginsenoside Rh2 alleviated AMI in rats and cells. Notably, the expression levels of inflammatory factors were reduced in AMI rats and cells. Furthermore, AMI rats and cells exhibited high expression levels of cleaved caspase-1 and gasdermin D, which were downregulated following treatment with ginsenoside Rh2. Further analysis revealed that ginsenoside Rh2 could inhibit cardiomyocyte pyroptosis by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Conclusions

Collectively, the findings of the present study demonstrated that ginsenoside Rh2 regulates pyroptosis in cardiomyocytes to alleviate AMI in vivo and in vitro, thereby affording a novel therapeutic approach to treat AMI.

KEYWORDS:

• Acute myocardial infarction
• pyroptosis
• Ginsenoside Rh2
• PI3K/AKT
• cardiomyocytes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data sharing statement

The data sets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics approval

The experimental and animal care procedures were approved by the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University (Approval Number. ZMU21-2207-032) and conformed to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.