Astragalus extract attenuated cardiac damage and myocardial remodeling in ovariectomized spontaneous hypertensive rats by downregulating the RhoA/ROCK pathway through ESR1.
Astragalus extract attenuates cardiac damage and ventricular remodeling in a rat model of hypertension and estrogen deficiency via the ESR1/RhoA/ROCK pathway.
Astragalus (Astragalus mongholicus) alleviates myocardial remodeling caused by hypertension. However, the detailed molecular mechanism is unclear. This study aims to investigate the effect of Astragalus on ventricular remodeling in ovariectomized spontaneous hypertensive rats (OVX-SHR).Female SHR/NCrl rats were subjected to bilateral ovariectomy to establish the OVX-SHR model and treated with Astragalus extract by gavage. The hemodynamics and cardiac function parameters were measured. HE and Masson staining were used to detect the pathological structure of myocardial remodeling and observe the hyperplasia of myocardial collagen fibers. The immunohistochemistry tested the level of α-SMA. The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines, IκB, p65, Cleaved-Caspase3, RhoA, and ROCK1/2 were detected using Western blot. The method of qRT-PCR measured the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2 and MMP-9).Hemodynamic and cardiac function parameters were significantly improved after a high dose of Astragalus extract and Valsartan treatment. The myocardial integrity of the model group was significantly reduced, arranged loosely, and disordered, while the expression of α-SMA was increased. However, Astragalus extract and Valsartan treatments significantly reduced the pathological damage and α-SMA. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, TGF-β, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in the model group were increased but decreased after Astragalus extract treatment. Adding an ESR1 inhibitor attenuated the improvement effect of Astragalus extract on myocardial remodeling and restored the expression of RhoA and ROCK1/2.Astragalus extract attenuates the cardiac damage in OVX-SHR by downregulating the RhoA/ROCK pathway through ESR1.
Dai et al. (Mon,) conducted a other in Myocardial remodeling caused by hypertension. Astragalus extract vs. Valsartan and untreated model group was evaluated on Hemodynamic and cardiac function parameters, and pathological structure of myocardial remodeling. Astragalus extract attenuated cardiac damage and myocardial remodeling in ovariectomized spontaneous hypertensive rats by downregulating the RhoA/ROCK pathway through ESR1.