Protective Effects of Apocynum venetum Against Pirarubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity

Pirarubicin (THP) is an anthracycline antibiotic, frequently used for the treatment of various human cancers. Unfortunately, the clinical effectiveness of THP is limited by its dose-related cardiotoxicity. Apocynum leaf extract is an extract of the dried leaves of Apocynum venetum L. (a member of the Apocynaceae family, AVLE) that has many positive effects on the cardiovascular system and is widely consumed as tea in China. In this study we established a cardiactoxicity rat model, which showed that pretreatment with AVLE attenuated THP-induced myocardial histopathological injury, electrocardiogram abnormalities, and cardiac dysfunction. AVLE also significantly reduced serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), creatine kinase (CK-MB), cardiac troponin (CTnT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH); and increased serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. Treatment with AVLE or dexrazoxane (DZR) resulted in an increase Cytochrome C (cytc) in the mitochondria and reduced Cytc and cleaved-caspase-3 levels (p < 0.05) in cytoplasm. We also found that AVLE significantly reduced voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), adenosine nucleotide transporter 1 (ANT1), and cyclophilin D (CYPD) mRNA expression (p < 0.05). Furthermore, AVLE appeared to exert therapeutic effects in a dose-dependent manner. Our study suggests the anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic properties of AVLE may be responsible for the observed cardioprotective effects.