Hsu Shih-Wei, Chang Tsu-Chung, Wu Yu-Kuan, Lin Kuen-Tze, Shi Li-Shian, Lee Shih-Yu
Department of Neurosurgery, Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Department of Biochemistry, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Jan 7;17(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s12906-016-1524-z.
Rhodiola crenulata is traditionally used as a folk medicine in Tibet for preventing high-altitude illnesses, including sudden cardiac death (SCD). The cardio-protective effects of Rhodiola crenulata root extract (RCE) against hypoxia in vivo have been recently confirmed. However, the way in which RCE produces these effects remains unclear. The present study is designed to confirm the protective effects of RCE on the heart in acute hypobaric hypoxia exposure and examine the mechanisms by which this occurs.
Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were pretreated with or without RCE and then exposed to a simulated altitude of 8000 m in a hypobaric hypoxia chamber for 9 h. The expression of cardiac arginase 1 (Arg-1) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and the activity of associated signaling pathways was examined.
Hypoxia reduced cardiac eNOS phosphorylation and increased Arg-1 expression, but both responses were reversed by RCE pre-treatment. In addition, RCE decreased the hypoxia-induced oxidative stress markers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and protein carbonyl content. Furthermore, RCE protected cardiomyocytes from hypoxia-induced cardiac apoptosis and restored the phosphorylation level of AKT and p38 MAPK as well as the superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) content in hypoxic animals.
The findings provide evidence that the effects of Rhodiola crenulata against altitude illness are partially mediated by modulation of eNOS and Arg-1 pathways in the heart.
在西藏，传统上人们使用大花红景天作为预防包括心源性猝死（SCD）在内的高原病的民间药物。最近已证实大花红景天根提取物（RCE）在体内对缺氧具有心脏保护作用。然而，RCE产生这些作用的方式仍不清楚。本研究旨在证实RCE在急性低压缺氧暴露中对心脏的保护作用，并探讨其发生机制。
将Sprague-Dawley（SD）大鼠预先给予或不给予RCE处理，然后置于低压缺氧舱中，模拟海拔8000米暴露9小时。检测心脏中精氨酸酶1（Arg-1）和内皮型一氧化氮合酶（eNOS）的表达以及相关信号通路的活性。
缺氧降低了心脏eNOS的磷酸化水平并增加了Arg-1的表达，但RCE预处理可逆转这两种反应。此外，RCE降低了缺氧诱导的活性氧（ROS）产生、丙二醛（MDA）水平和蛋白质羰基含量等氧化应激标志物。此外，RCE保护心肌细胞免受缺氧诱导的心脏凋亡，并恢复了缺氧动物中AKT和p38丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）的磷酸化水平以及超氧化物歧化酶2（SOD2）的含量。
这些研究结果提供了证据，表明大花红景天对高原病的作用部分是通过调节心脏中的eNOS和Arg-1途径介导的。
