Quercetin Prevents Cardiac Hypertrophy Induced by Pressure Overload in Rats

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Inhibition of cardiac hypertrophy leads to a significant reduction in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Quercetin is by far the most abundant flavonoid and believed to ameliorate cardiovascular disease. Therefore, we investigated whether quercetin supplementation could attenuate the development of cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload. Three weeks after suprarenal transverse abdominal aortic constriction, heart to body weight (HW/BW) ratio increased compared to the sham group (3.40  0.06 mg/g versus 2.83  0.02 mg/g, P<0.001). The quercetin administered group showed complete inhibition of cardiac hypertrophy (2.85  0.01 mg/g, P<0.001). Malonyldialdehyde production induced by pressure overload was suppressed by quercetin. The activities of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2), p38 MAP kinase, Akt and GSK-3 were significantly increased with pressure overload and attenuated by quercetin treatment. We conclude that quercetin appears to block the development of cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload in rats and that these effects may be mediated through reduced oxidant status and inhibition of ERK1/2, p38 MAP kinase, Akt and GSK-3 activities.KEY WORDS: cardiac hypertrophy, pressure overload, quercetin.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 71(6): 737-743, 2009 Cardiac hypertrophy is a homeostatic response to elevated afterload that develops due to pressure or volume overload. Although cardiac hypertrophy is a compensatory response to increased wall stress in the early stage, it is followed by decompensation and ultimately leads to heart failure if the stimulus is sufficiently intense and prolonged.Several intracellular signaling pathways including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), Janus kinase/signal transducers, activators of transcription (JAK/STAT), calcineurin [16], serine/threonine kinase, Akt and its downstream target, glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) have been implicated in mechanical stress-induced cardiac hypertrophy. These observations have led to speculation that inhibition of these hypertrophic signals may be an effective means of clinical therapy in the treatment of pathological hypertrophy and heart failure.Quercetin (3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) is a member of a group of naturally occurring compounds and is one of the most widely distributed bioflavonoids [5]. Several epidemiological studies have shown a significant inverse association between dietary flavonoids and long-term mortality from coronary heart disease. A very wide range of biological actions of flavonoids, including antioxidant, antiaggregant and vasodilatory effects, support the purported role of quercetin protection against cardiovascular disease [4]. Recently, it has been reported that quercetin inhibits hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes induced by angiotensin II [15]. However, there is little information about the effect of quercetin on in vivo models of cardiac hypertrophy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether chronic administration of an oral daily dose of quercetin...

microRNA-10a Targets T-box 5 to Inhibit the Development of Cardiac Hypertrophy

“…The pressureoverload cardiac hypertrophy rat model was induced by TAAC as previously described. 17) In brief, rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection with ketamine (80 mg/kg) and xylazine (5 mg/kg). Transaortic constriction was applied with a 4-0 nylon suture around the suprarenal abdominal aorta against a 5-gauge needle.…”

Cardioprotective effects of lipoic acid, quercetin and resveratrol on oxidative stress related to thyroid hormone alterations in long-term obesity

“…Persistent inhibition of GSK3β induces compensatory hypertrophy, inhibits apoptosis and fibrosis, and increases cardiac contractility by suppressing mPTP opening [34]. Given the pivotal role of natural antioxidants in redox regulation, and considerable evidence supporting their ameliorative effects on oxidative stress [35][36][37], current interest is on mechanisms for their cardio-protection. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the possible mechanisms for protective effects of Lipoic acid (LA), Quercetin and Resveratrol on oxidative stress induced injury on the heart of obese C57BL/6 mice.…”

Quercetin can reduce insulin resistance without decreasing adipose tissue and skeletal muscle fat accumulation

“…More recently, beneficial effects on blood pressure and heart disease have been described (Perez-Vizcaino et al 2009;Han et al 2009;Jung et al 2013). With regard to obesity, very little work has been carried out to date.…”