1. Academic Validation
  2. Curcumol alleviates cardiac remodeling via the AKT/NF-κB pathway

Curcumol alleviates cardiac remodeling via the AKT/NF-κB pathway

  • Int Immunopharmacol. 2023 Jun 29;122:110527. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110527.
Zhao Fang 1 Shuang Li 2 Feierkaiti Yushanjiang 1 Gaoke Feng 1 Shengyu Cui 1 Shan Hu 1 Xuejun Jiang 3 Chengyin Liu 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, 238 Jiefang Road, Wuhan 430060, China; Cardiovascular Research Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan 430060, China.
  • 2 Department of Cardiology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430000, China.
  • 3 Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, 238 Jiefang Road, Wuhan 430060, China; Cardiovascular Research Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Cardiology, Wuhan 430060, China. Electronic address: xjjiang@whu.edu.cn.
  • 4 Department of Geriatrics, The Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225000, China. Electronic address: 092449@yzu.edu.cn.
Abstract

Cardiac remodeling is the final stage of almost all cardiovascular diseases, leading to heart failure and arrhythmias. However, the pathogenesis of cardiac remodeling is not fully understood, and specific treatment schemes are currently unavailable. Curcumol is a bioactive sesquiterpenoid that has anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-fibrotic properties. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of curcumol on cardiac remodeling and elucidate its relevant underlying mechanism. Curcumol significantly attenuated cardiac dysfunction, myocardial fibrosis, and hypertrophy in the animal model of isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiac remodeling. Curcumol also alleviated cardiac electrical remodeling, thereby reducing the risk of ventricular fibrillation (VF) after heart failure. Inflammation and Apoptosis are critical pathological processes involved in cardiac remodeling. Curcumol inhibited the inflammation and Apoptosis induced by ISO and TGF-β1 in mouse myocardium and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs). Furthermore, the protective effects of curcumol were found to be mediated through the inhibition of the protein kinase B (Akt)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. The administration of an Akt Agonist reversed the anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects of curcumol and restored the inhibition of NF-κB nuclear translocation in TGF-β1-induced NRCMs. Our study suggests that curcumol is a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of cardiac remodeling.

Keywords

AKT/NF-κB; Apoptosis; Arrhythmia; Cardiac remodeling; Curcumol; Inflammation.

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