Astaxanthin Prevents Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Decrease in the Viability of AC16 Cardiomyocytes

The effect of astaxanthin (5 and 10 μM), a xanthophyll carotenoid, on the viability of human cardiomyocytes AC16 under the cytotoxic action of 100 μM hydrogen peroxide was investigated. It was shown that the combined effect of these substances leads to an increase in the number of living cells and the mitotic activity index. It was found that under hydrogen peroxide-induced cytotoxicity astaxanthin promotes a decrease in the content of protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), stimulator of endoplasmic reticulum stress and pro-apoptotic transcription factor C/BEP homologous protein (CHOP). Besides, in the conditions of hydrogen peroxide-induced cytotoxicity astaxanthin restored the expression of anti- and pro-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family. A protective effect of astaxanthin was revealed despite the toxic effect of hydrogen peroxide.