Effect And Mechanism Of Berberine On Inhibiting Cardiac Hypertrophy

BackgroundCardiac hypertrophy is an important and fundamental adaptive response to a requirement for increased contractile power. It is not only a factor intimately associated with chronic heart failure(CHF), but also an important cause of increased morbidity and mortality of cardiac diseases. Hence, cardiac hypertrophy is regarded as a major risk factor of heart disease.Berberine is an alkaloid from Hydrastis canadensis L.,Berberidaceae. It is also the basic chemical component of Coptis chinensis Franch(coptis). In China, some Chinese physicians succeeded by using coptis or berberine in the treatment of cardiac diseases, like hypertension and CHF. In the present project, the effects of berberine on attenuating the development of cardiac hypertrophy in both pressure-overload induced cardiac hypertrophy rat model and cell culture were studied, and the underline mechanism of its action was revealed to a certain extent.Methods and Results1. Pretective effects of berberine on myocardial hypertrophy and remodelling in established cardiac pressure-overload hypertrophy in rats with aortic banding1.1 Effect of berberine on inhibiting the development of cardiac hypertrophy in rat with aortic banding Objective: To learn the inhibitory effect of berberine on the development of cardiac hypertrophy in pressure overload induced cardiac hypertrophy in rats.Methods: Pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy was induced by abdominal aorta constriction(banding) in rats. The drugs were orally administered for 10 wks starting from 2 weeks after surgery at dosage of berberine 5, 10, 20mg/kg, captopril 45 mg/kg, metoprolol 10mg/kg and losartan 10mg/kg. The heart weight and cardiac index were measured for three times at 2 wks after surgery, and 4 or 10 wks after treatment with drugs.Results: (1)2 weeks after aorta constriction surgery, the heart weight and cardiac index of...