Effect of astragaloside on cardiomyocyte apoptosis in murine coxsackievirus B₃ myocarditis

Abstract

Astragaloside is the major component of Astragalus membranaceus, one of the Chinese medical herbs, and has several pharmacological actions on cardiovascular system, including positive inotropic, anti-arrhythmia and anti-oxidant activities. We have investigated the effect of astragaloside on cardiomyocyte apoptosis and expression of apoptosis-associated genes in mice with coxsackievirus B₃ (CVB₃)-induced myocarditis, the former of which has been detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay and the latter determined by using a focused microarray. Results showed that cardiomyocyte apoptosis and expression of various apoptosis associated genes are inhibited after treatment with astragaloside. The anti-apoptotic activity of astragaloside may contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes in treating myocarditis with pharmaceutics of Astragalus membranaceus.

Keywords:

• Astragaloside
• Apoptosis
• Coxsackievirus B (CVB)
• Myocarditis
• Microarray

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 30271665).