Saponins of Panax japonicus ameliorates cardiac aging phenotype in aging rats by enhancing basal autophagy through AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 pathway

作者：Hefei Huang, Tianlun Wang, Luo-Pei Wang, Yan Huang, Weili Li, Jine Wang, Yuanlang Hu, Zhiyong Zhou · 发表于：Experimental Gerontology · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.exger.2023.112305 · 被引用次数：17 · 研究领域：Autophagy in Disease and Therapy

Heart disease is a significant health concern for elderly individuals, with heart aging being the primary cause. Recent studies have shown that autophagy can play a protective role in preventing cardiac aging. Our previous research confirmed that Chikusetsu saponin IVa, a fundamental component of Saponins of Panax japonics (SPJ), can enhance basic autophagy levels in cardiomyocyte of isoproterenol induced cardiac fibrosis mice. However, it remains unclear whether SPJ possesses a protective effect on cardiac dysfunction during the natural aging process. Rats were randomly divided into four groups: adult control group (6 months old), aging group (24 months old), aging group treated with 10 mg/kg SPJ, and aging group treated with 30 mg/kg SPJ. The heart function, blood pressure, and heart mass index (HMI) were measured. Hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E) and Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) staining were used to observe the changes in morphology, while Masson staining was used to examine collagen deposition in the rat hearts and CD45 immunohistochemistry was conducted to examine the macrophage infiltration in heart tissues. TUNEL kit was used to detect apoptosis level of cardiomyocyte, and western blot was used to evaluate autophagy-related proteins as well as AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 pathway-related markers. SPJ treatment improved the cardiac function, reduced HMI, attenuated myocardial fiber disorder, inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration, and decreased collagen deposition and cardiomyo...