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Berberine inhibits norepinephrine-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes via inhibiting ROS-TNF-α-caspase signaling pathway

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Abstract

Objective

To determine the effect of berberine (Ber) on norepinephrine (NE)-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes.

Methods

The cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were treated with NE in the presence or absence of Ber. The activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the culture medium was examined, and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was assessed by Hoechst 33258, isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated annexin-V, and propidine iodide (PI) staining. In addition, the activities of caspases-2 and-3 were measured by a fluorescent assay kit. The level of secreted tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also determined.

Results

NE at a concentration of 50 μ mol/L induced an obvious increase in the activity of LDH in the culture medium (P<0.05), which was inhibited by coincubation with 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 μ mol/L Ber (P<0.05). Ber also significantly attenuated NE-induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.01). Moreover, Ber at a dose of 2 μ mol/L markedly decreased the ROS and TNF-α productions (P <0.05) and inhibited the activation of caspases-2 and -3 in cardiomyocytes exposed to NE (P<0.05)h.

Conclusion

The present study suggested that Ber could reduce NE-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes through inhibiting the ROS-TNF-α-caspase signaling pathway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Xiu-xiu Lv  (吕秀秀), Xiao-hui Yu  (余小慧), Hua-dong Wang  (王华东), Yan-ping Wang  (王彦平), Da-xiang Lu  (陆大祥), Ren-bin Qi  (戚仁斌), Chao-feng Hu  (胡巢凤) & Hong-mei Li  (李红梅)

  2. Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Hua-dong Wang  (王华东), Da-xiang Lu  (陆大祥), Ren-bin Qi  (戚仁斌) & Hong-mei Li  (李红梅)

  3. Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Yu-xia Yan  (严玉霞)

Authors
  1. Xiu-xiu Lv  (吕秀秀)
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  2. Xiao-hui Yu  (余小慧)
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  3. Hua-dong Wang  (王华东)
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  5. Yan-ping Wang  (王彦平)
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  6. Da-xiang Lu  (陆大祥)
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  7. Ren-bin Qi  (戚仁斌)
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  8. Chao-feng Hu  (胡巢凤)
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  9. Hong-mei Li  (李红梅)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hua-dong Wang  (王华东).

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30670826, 30971191), the Science and Technology Foundation from Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (No. 207140), the Guangdong Science and Technology Projects (No. 2008B030301352), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.21609405), and the Leading Academic Discipline Program, 211 Project for Jinan University (the 3rd phase)

The first two authors contributed equally to this work

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Lv, Xx., Yu, Xh., Wang, Hd. et al. Berberine inhibits norepinephrine-induced apoptosis in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes via inhibiting ROS-TNF-α-caspase signaling pathway. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 19, 424–431 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-011-0856-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-011-0856-2

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