Search

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) is a serious complication of diabetes. Apoptosis, inflammatory and ROS production are among the factors that are involved in the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy. 6-shogaol is reported to inhibit apoptosis and reduce inflammatory and ROS production. This study aimed to study the effect of 6-shogaol (6S) on the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy in vitro. To develop DC model, H9c2 cell line was exposed to high glucose (HG) level (33 M glucose) for 24 h and used as a model for diabetic cardiomyopathy. Another set of H9c2 cell lines were 1 h pretreated with different conc. of 6-shogaol (5-20 μM). Cell viability, apoptosis, ROS production, IL-6, TNF-alpha and NF-κB were estimated in these cell lines treated with HG level or pretreated with 6-shgoal before HG. Exposing cardiomyocytes H9c2 cells to HG produced dramatic changes in cell biology and chemistry. There is a significant reduction in cell viability and enhancement in cell apoptosis as compared with control. In addition, ROS production, IL-6, TNF-α levels were increased in H9c2 line treated with HG. Also, there is overexpression of NF-κB in cells treated with HG levels alone. On the other hand, pretreatment of cardiomyocytes H9c2 cells with 6-shogaol (5-20μM) significantly improved cell viability and reduced apoptosis, in addition, 6S at a dose of 10 μM abrogated the deleterious effects of HG on oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters via modulation of NF-κB pathway. Therefore, 6S has a potential protective effect against hyperglycemia-induced DC in vitro.

Diabetes dramatically increases the risk of numerous heart and kidney troubles. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) and cardiomyopathy (DC) are major causes of death. The pathophysiology of DN/DC includes inflammatory and oxidative stress mechanisms. NF-κB is one of the transcription factor that mediates signal transduction processes. Nowadays, it is suggested that inhibition of NF-κB activation could delay the development of DN and DC. 6-shogaol was reported to modulate NF-κB besides its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it is worth testing it against diabetic complications. Rats were divided to 4 groups: Normal control (NC), 6-shogaol (6S), diabetic control (DC), diabetic rats treated with 6-shogaol (DC+6S). BGL, BUN, serum creatinine, total urine protein, creatine kinase (CK), LDH, NO, TNF-α NF-κB were determined in serum. Heart and kidney tissues were isolated for GSH, MDA, SOD measurement and histopathology. NF-κB was estimated in kidney tissues using immunohistopathology and western blot techniques. Results showed that diabetic rats left untreated for 16 weeks showed kidney injury as evidenced from elevated BUN, serum creatinine, urine protein, TNF-α and NF-κB. Heart tissue damage was evidence from elevated CK, LDH. Diabetic rats simultaneously treated with 6-shogaol showed a protective effect on both kidney and heart as evidenced biochemically and histopathologically. Therefore, using 6-shogaol may be of value in protection against diabetic complications in kidney and heart of rats.