Puerarin pretreatment attenuates cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by coronary microembolization in rats by activating the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway

Fig. 1. The chemical structure of puerarin.

Fig. 2. Echocardiographic analysis of rats in four groups. (A–D) Sham, sham + Pue, CME, CME + Pue group, respectively. Left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESd) were quantitatively analyzed. CME, coronary microembolization; Pue, puerarin. ap < 0.05 in comparison with the sham group; bp < 0.05 in comparison with the CME group.

Fig. 3. Myocardial infarct size as shown by HBFP staining. (A–D) Sham, sham + Pue, CME, CME + Pue group, respectively. Ischemic myocardium was stained red. The arrows in (C and D) indicate the microinfarct size. CME, coronary microembolization; Pue, puerarin. ap < 0.05 in comparison with the sham group; bp < 0.05 in comparison with the CME group.

Fig. 4. Histopathological examination of myocardial tissue by H&amp;E staining. (A–D) Sham, sham + Pue, CME, CME + Pue group, respectively. Microspheres with inflammatory cells infiltration were detected in both the CME and CME + Pue groups, but these pathological findings were not observed in the sham and sham + Pue groups. The arrows in (C and D) indicate microspheres. CME, coronary microembolization; Pue, puerarin.

Fig. 5. TUNEL staining of myocardial apoptosis in the four groups. (A–D) Sham, sham + Pue, CME, CME + Pue group, respectively. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Nuclei of apoptotic cardiomyocytes were yellow-brown, whereas the normal cardiomyocytes that did not show apoptosis were light blue. The arrows in (C and D) indicate the nuclei of apoptotic cardiomyocytes. CME, coronary microembolization; Pue, puerarin. ap < 0.05 in comparison with the sham group; bp < 0.05 in comparison with the CME group.

Fig. 6. Puerarin reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by regulating cleaved caspase-3, Bax as well as Bcl-2 after CME. Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation. The data were determined by at least three independent experiments in the present study. CME, coronary microembolization; Pue, puerarin. ap < 0.05 in comparison with the sham group; bp < 0.05 in comparison with the CME group.

Fig. 7. Effects of puerarin on PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway. Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. The data were determined by at least three independent experiments in the present study. CME, coronary microembolization; Pue, puerarin. ap < 0.05 in comparison with the sham group; bp < 0.05 in comparison with the CME group.

Fig. 8. The graphical abstract shows that puerarin inhibits cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by coronary microembolization in rats by activating the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway.