Astaxanthin attenuates cardiovascular dysfunction associated with deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt-induced hypertension in rats.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major global health problem. It is a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease. One of the most used experimental models in studying antihypertensive action is the deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rat. This study aimed to investigate the cardiovascular protective effect of astaxanthin (ASX) in DOCA-salt-induced hypertension and its possible underlying mechanisms. METHODS: A total of 48 adult male Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups: control, DOCA, and DOCA + ASX. Blood pressure, serum cardiac enzyme levels, some oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarker levels, and lipid profile levels were measured. The weight of the left ventricle to tibial length ratio was calculated. Apoptosis detection and total genomic DNA extraction in aortic and cardiac tissues were investigated. The apoptotic marker BAX was also immunohistochemically assessed in the heart and aorta. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the DOCA group was associated with a significant increase in blood pressure, serum cardiac enzyme levels, oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarker levels, lipid profile except serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL), weight of the left ventricle to tibial length, and total released DNA fragmentation level of the left ventricle and aorta and a significant decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) and HDL. Compared to the DOCA group, the DOCA + ASX group significantly improved the DOCA-induced changes. CONCLUSION: ASX has beneficial protective effects on DOCA-salt-induced hypertension via DNA fragmentation protection, apoptosis inhibition, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and its effects on lipid levels.

Dapagliflozin, a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, protects cardiovascular function in type-2 diabetic murine model.

Diabetes mellitus and its complications are major international health problems in which there are many limitations to the orthodox approaches in the treatment. Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a new class of diabetic medications, with a different mechanism of action that may reduce risk of cardiovascular complications. To evaluate the effect of SGLT2 inhibitor monotherapy on cardiovascular complications in patients with type-2 diabetes and to compare its effect with the first-line therapy, metformin. Eighty rats divided into four groups were used: nondiabetic, diabetic nontreated, diabetic + met and diabetic + dapa. At the end, the arterial blood pressure and cardiac performance were assessed. Glycemic index, lipid profile, total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde, tumour necrosis factor a were measured. DNA changes were assessed from the hearts and aortae. Aortic tissue changes recorded using haematoxylin and eosin, Masson trichrome and iNOS immune stain. Glycemic index, lipid profile, oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters were significantly improved in both metformin and dapagliflozin treated groups with significant improvement in blood pressure and cardiac performance. Also, there were noticeable significant reduction in DNA fragmentation in aortic and cardiac tissues and reduction in collagen deposition and iNOS expression in aortic tissue. Dapagliflozin treatment results' significantly surpassed improvement of metformin treatment nearly in all parameters. Total genomic DNA extraction proved that SGL2 inhibitor (dapagliflozin) has superior glycemic control and cardiovascular protective effect over metformin especially in type-2 diabetes with high fat intake.