Calycosin Alleviates Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity and Pyroptosis by Inhibiting NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation

Abstract

Calycosin (CAL) is the main active component present in Astragalus and reportedly possesses diverse pharmacological properties. However, the cardioprotective effect and underlying mechanism of CAL against doxorubicin- (DOX-) induced cardiotoxicity need to be comprehensively examined. Herein, we aimed to investigate whether the cardioprotective effects of CAL are related to its antipyroptotic effect. A cardiatoxicity model was established by stimulating H9c2 cells and C57BL/6J mice using DOX. In vitro, CAL increased H9c2 cell viability and decreased DOX-induced pyroptosis via NLRP3, caspase-1, and gasdermin D signaling pathways in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo, CAL-DOX cotreatment effectively suppressed DOX-induced cytotoxicity as well as inflammatory and cardiomyocyte pyroptosis via the same molecular mechanism. Next, we used nigericin (Nig) and NLRP3 forced overexpression to determine whether CAL imparts antipyroptotic effects by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome in vitro. Furthermore, CAL suppressed DOX-induced mitochondrial oxidative stress injury in H9c2 cells by decreasing the generation of reactive oxygen species and increasing mitochondrial membrane potential and adenosine triphosphate. Likewise, CAL attenuated the DOX-induced increase in malondialdehyde content and decreased superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in H9c2 cells. In vivo, CAL afforded a protective effect against DOX-induced cardiac injury by improving myocardial function, inhibiting brain natriuretic peptide, and improving the changes of the histological morphology of DOX-treated mice. Collectively, our findings confirmed that CAL alleviates DOX-induced cardiotoxicity and pyroptosis by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in vivo and in vitro.

Calycosin Ameliorates Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis via Suppressing Oxidative Stress, Apoptosis, and Enhancing Autophagy

“…Calycosin, the most abundantly found isoflavone in Astragalus , is a promising antifibrotic agent. It showed promising antioxidant [ 19 ], anti-inflammatory [ 20 ], and antiapoptotic abilities [ 21 ]. Many studies have demonstrated that CA presents as a promising drug for the treatment of organ fibrosis.…”

Role of oxidative stress and inflammation-related signaling pathways in doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy

“…Fraxetin, resveratrol, Nicotinamide mononucleotide and others exert antiinflammatory effects to protect the heart by inhibiting NLRP3 activation and reducing the subsequent inflammatory factor secretion and release [185][186][187][188]. Zhang et al found that Calycosin and MCC950 enhanced the viability of rat cardiomyocytes and attenuated DIC by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway [189,190] (Additional file 5: Table S5).…”

Molecular mechanisms associated with the chemoprotective role of protocatechuic acid and its potential benefits in the amelioration of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity: A review

“…Pyroptosis is the inflammatory form of programmed cell death (apoptosis), which occurs upon infection with intracellular pathogens. Although generally occurring as a result of the inflammatory response to microbes, pyroptosis has been identified as one of the major cell death forms associated with DIC [103] , [104] . By upregulating the expression of BH3-only protein Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B19-kDa-interacting protein 3 (Bnip3) in myocytes, it triggers the activation of caspase-3, cleavage of Gasdermin E (GSDME), membrane rupture, and pyroptosis in cardiomyocytes [105] , [106] .…”