salvianolic-acid-B and Cardiovascular-Diseases

Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), as an important traditional Chinese medicinal plant, has been used in China for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases for hundreds of years. Salvianolic acids (salvianolic acid A and salvianolic acid B) as the most abundant water-soluble component extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza have attracted more and more attention from cardiovascular scientists due to its comprehensive cardiovascular actions.

Topics: Animals; Benzofurans; Caffeic Acids; Cardiovascular Diseases; Humans; Lactates; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Oxidative Stress; Reactive Oxygen Species; Signal Transduction

Cardiovascular diseases remain a major cause of death globally. Cardiac cells once damaged, cannot resume the normal functioning of the heart. Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) have shown the potential to differentiate into cardiac cells. Epigenetic modifications determine cell identity during embryo development via regulation of tissue specific gene expression. The major epigenetic mechanisms that control cell fate and biological functions are DNA methylation and histone modifications. However, epigenetic modifiers alone are not sufficient to generate mature cardiac cells. Various small molecules such as ascorbic acid (AA) and salvianolic acid B (SA) are known for their cardiomyogenic potential. Therefore, this study is aimed to examine the synergistic effects of epigenetic modifiers, valproic acid (VPA) and 5-azacytidine (5-aza) with cardiomyogenic molecules, AA and SA in the cardiac differentiation of MSCs.. BM-MSCs were isolated, propagated, characterized, and then treated with an optimized dose of VPA or 5-aza for 24 h. MSCs were maintained in a medium containing AA and SA for 21 days. All groups were assessed for the expression of cardiac genes and proteins through q-PCR and immunocytochemistry, respectively. Results show that epigenetic modifiers VPA or 5-aza in combination with AA and SA significantly upregulate the expression of cardiac genes MEF2C, Nkx2.5, cMHC, Tbx20, and GATA-4. In addition, VPA or 5-aza pretreatment along with AA and SA enhanced the expression of the cardiac proteins connexin-43, GATA-4, cTnI, and Nkx2.5.. These findings suggest that epigenetic modifiers valproic acid and 5-azacytidine in combination with ascorbic acid and salvianolic acid B promote cardiac differentiation of MSCs. This pretreatment strategy can be exploited for designing future stem cell based therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Azacitidine; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cell Differentiation; Cells, Cultured; Humans; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Myocytes, Cardiac; Valproic Acid

Danshen is a first-line traditional Chinese medicine derived from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge consisting mainly of tanshinone IIA, tanshinol, protocatechuic aldehyde, and salvianolic acid B, it is widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases based on the synergistic effect of its multiple active components. Recent studies have indicated that the overall effect of traditional Chinese medicine is closely related to the in vivo coexistence of a variety of active components.. The prolongation of the coexistence of the four active components in Danshen in vivo by regulating their pharmacokinetic processes may contribute to better efficiency.. Individual sustained-release pellets of the four main active components in Danshen were respectively prepared according to the optimised formulations developed in our previous studies to modulate their in vivo processes, in which the desired release profiles of each kind of sustained-release pellets for formulation optimisation were calculated based on the point-area deconvolution and circadian rhythm of variant angina. The four kinds of sustained-release pellets were filled into capsules on the basis of the original weight ratio of the four active components in purified Salvia miltiorrhiza extract for further in vitro release and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic investigations.. The release behaviours of the combined Danshen capsules composed of the four kinds of sustained-release pellets were evaluated in three media with different pH levels (pH 1.2, 6.8, and pure water). The release profiles of each kind of sustained-release pellets in pH 6.8 PBS and pH 1.2 HCl were similar to the release profile of those in pure water (similarity factors f. Sustained-release preparations can markedly prolong the in vivo coexistence of multiple components in Danshen to enhance their overall effects, which provides a potent strategy for developing the combination therapy of traditional Chinese medicine.

Topics: Abietanes; Benzaldehydes; Benzofurans; Caffeic Acids; Capsules; Cardiovascular Diseases; Catechols; Delayed-Action Preparations; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Salvia miltiorrhiza

Salvianolic Acid B (Sal B) is one of the main medicinal ingredients of Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) and possesses a variety of pharmacological effects. The purpose of this study was to discover the new mechanism of action of Sal B based on the protein interaction network (PIN) analysis. A PIN of Sal B was constructed with 852 nodes and 8,626 interactions. By fast agglomerate algorithm based on the edge clustering coefficients (FAG-EC), 11 modules were detected from the network. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of the modules demonstrated that the roles of Sal B played in cardiovascular disease were related to multiple biological processes, which could represent the characteristics of Chinese Material Medica (CMM) as a whole to regulate the disease. The most interesting finding of this work was that the anti-inflammatory effect of Sal B was due to the immune response of T lymphocytes by regulating IL-2 family, CD3E, CD79A, MAP3K7 and PRKCQ. Therefore, the module-based network analysis will be an effective method for better understanding CMM.

Topics: Algorithms; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Benzofurans; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cluster Analysis; Computational Biology; Databases, Factual; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Humans; Models, Biological; Plant Extracts; Protein Interaction Mapping; Salvia miltiorrhiza; T-Lymphocytes; Technology, Pharmaceutical

The clinical use of arsenic trioxide (ATO), a potent anti-neoplastic agent, is often limited because of its severe cardiotoxicity. Salviae miltiorrhiza is widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. One of the most abundant ingredients of S. miltiorrhiza is salvianolic acid B (Sal B). The present study was designed to evaluate whether Sal B protects against ATO-induced cardiac cell injury in vitro. With MTT cell viability assay, LDH release, ROS generation, caspase-3 activity assay and Hoechst 33342/PI staining, we found that Sal B pretreatment provided significantly protection against ATO-induced cell death. The effect was correlated with the activation of the PI3K/Akt signal pathway. Conversely, blocking Akt activation with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 effectively suppressed the protective effect of Sal B against ATO-induced cell apoptosis. In addition, the PI3K inhibitor partially blocked the effects of Sal B on the upregulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl protein expression, and downregulation of Bax protein expression. Collectively, the results showed that Sal B decreased the apoptosis and necrosis of H9c2 cardiomyocytes caused by ATO treatment, and PI3K played a crucial role in enhancing cell survival during this process. These observations indicate that Sal B has the potential to exert cardioprotective effects against ATO toxicity.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Arsenic Trioxide; Arsenicals; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; bcl-X Protein; Benzofurans; Blotting, Western; Cardiovascular Diseases; Caspase 3; Cell Line; Cell Survival; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Myocytes, Cardiac; Oxides; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Rats; Signal Transduction