AUTHOR=Zhang Xiaoying , Zhang Zhiying , Wang Pengxiang , Han Yiwei , Liu Lijun , Li Jie , Chen Yichun , Liu Duxia , Wang Jinying , Tian Xiaoying , Zhao Qin , Yan Fengxia 

TITLE=Bawei Chenxiang Wan Ameliorates Cardiac Hypertrophy by Activating AMPK/PPAR-α Signaling Pathway Improving Energy Metabolism

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.653901

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.653901

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=Bawei Chenxiang Wan (BCW), a well-known traditional Chinese Tibetan medicine formula, is effective for the treatment of acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, we investigated the effect of BCW in cardiac hypertrophy and underlying mechanisms. The dose of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8g/kg BCW treated cardiac hypertrophy in SD rat model induced by isoprenaline (ISO). Our results appeared that BCW (0.4g/kg) could repress cardiac hypertrophy, indicated by macro morphology, heart weight to body weight ratio (HW/BW), left ventricle heart weight to body weight ratio (LVW/BW), hypertrophy markers, heart function, pathological structure, cross sectional area (CSA) of myocardial cells, as well as the myocardial enzymes. Furthermore, we declared the mechanism of BCW anti-hypertrophy effect was associated with activating adenosine 5‘-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) / peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorα (PPAR-α) signals, which regulate carnitine palmitoyltransferase1β (CPT-1β) and glucose transport-4 (GLUT-4) to ameliorate glycolipid metabolism. Moreover, BCW also elevated mitochondrial DNA-encoded genes NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1(ND1), cytochrome b (Cytb), mitochondrially encoded cytochrome coxidase I (mt-co1) expression, which was associated with mitochondria function and oxidative phosphorylation. Subsequently, knocking down AMPK by siRNA significantly can reverse the anti-hypertrophy effect of BCW indicated by hypertrophy markers and cell surface of cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, BCW prevents ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by activating AMPK/PPAR-α to alleviate the disturbance in energy metabolism. Therefore, BCW can be used as an alternative drug for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy.