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Cardioprotection by Farnesol: Role of the Mevalonate Pathway

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Abstract

Purpose

Farnesol is a key metabolite of the mevalonate pathway and known as an antioxidant. We examined whether farnesol treatment protects the ischemic heart.

Methods

Male Wistar rats were treated orally with 0.2, 1, 5, and 50 mg/kg/day farnesol/vehicle for 12 days, respectively. On day 13, the effect of farnesol treatment on cardiac ischemic tolerance and biochemical changes was tested. Therefore, hearts were isolated and subjected either to 30 min coronary occlusion followed by 120 min reperfusion to measure infarct size or to 10 min aerobic perfusion to measure cardiac mevalonate pathway end-products (protein prenylation, cholesterol, coenzyme Q9, coenzyme Q10, dolichol), and 3-nitrotyrosine (oxidative/nitrosative stress marker), respectively. The cytoprotective effect of farnesol was also tested in cardiomyocytes subjected to simulated ischemia/reperfusion.

Results

Farnesol pretreatment decreased infarct size in a U-shaped dose–response manner where 1 mg/kg/day dose reached a statistically significant reduction (22.3 ± 3.9 % vs. 40.9 ± 6.1 % of the area at risk, p < 0.05). Farnesol showed a similar cytoprotection in cardiomyocytes. The cardioprotective dose of farnesol (1 mg/kg/day) significantly increased the marker of protein geranylgeranylation, but did not influence protein farnesylation, cardiac tissue cholesterol, coenzyme Q9, coenzyme Q10, and dolichol. While the cardioprotective dose of farnesol did not influence 3-nitrotyrosine, the highest dose of farnesol (50 mg/kg/day) tested did not show cardioprotection, however, it significantly decreased cardiac 3-nitrotyrosine.

Conclusions

This is the first demonstration that oral farnesol treatment reduces infarct size. The cardioprotective effect of farnesol likely involves increased protein geranylgeranylation and seems to be independent of the antioxidant effect of farnesol.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Innovation Office (5LET_STATIN_08, TAMOP-4.2.2-08/1/2008-0013, TAMOP-4.2.1/B-09/1/KONV-2010-0005, TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0012, and TAMOP-4.2.2/A-11/1/KONV-2012-0035) and a grant from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA PD 106001). A. Görbe and T. Csont hold a “János Bolyai Fellowship” from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Szeged, 6720, 9 Dóm tér, Szeged, Hungary

    Gergő Szűcs, Szilvia Török, Gabriella F. Kocsis, János Pálóczi, Anikó Görbe, Tamás Csont & Csaba Csonka

  2. Department of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Memphis, 106 Fieldhouse, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA

    Zsolt Murlasits

  3. Pharmahungary Group, 6722, 6 Hajnóczy u., Szeged, Hungary

    Zsolt Murlasits, Tamás Csont, Csaba Csonka & Péter Ferdinandy

  4. Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Semmelweis University, 1089, 4 Nagyvárad tér, Budapest, Hungary

    Péter Ferdinandy

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  1. Gergő Szűcs
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  2. Zsolt Murlasits
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  3. Szilvia Török
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  4. Gabriella F. Kocsis
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  7. Tamás Csont
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Csaba Csonka.

Additional information

C. Csonka and P. Ferdinandy contributed equally to this work.

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Szűcs, G., Murlasits, Z., Török, S. et al. Cardioprotection by Farnesol: Role of the Mevalonate Pathway. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 27, 269–277 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10557-013-6460-2

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