Dioscin attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory myocardial injury through oxidative stress-related pathway

BACKGROUND: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is one of the main causes of myocardial injury. Dioscin has a protective effect on myocardial injury induced by LPS; however, the biological function and mechanism remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dioscin on myocardial injury induced by LPS. METHODS: The myocardial injury model was constructed through LPS treatment of primary rat cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocytes were treated with different concentrations of dioscin (50, 100, and 200 ng/mL). MTT was used to detect the activity of cardiomyocytes; flow cytometry and TUNEL assay were used to detect apoptosis; and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The release of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione (GSH) was detected according to the kit instructions. The levels of apoptosis-related proteins (Bax, caspase-3, and Bcl 2) and the Nrf2-Keap1 pathway proteins were detected by western blot. RESULTS: Dioscin significantly reduced LPS-induced cardiomyocyte injury in neonatal rats in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Dioscin also significantly inhibited cardiomyocyte inflammation and apoptosis induced by LPS. With the increase of dioscin concentration, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and MDA were downregulated, and SOD and GSH were upregulated. Moreover, dioscin inhibited LPS-induced myocardial injury by inhibiting the Nrf2-Keap1 pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that dioscin attenuates LPS-induced myocardial injury through oxidative stress-related pathways.