Acute administration of n-3 rich triglyceride emulsions provides cardioprotection in murine models after ischemia-reperfusion

PLoS One. 2015 Jan 5;10(1):e0116274. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116274. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Dietary n-3 fatty acids (FAs) may reduce cardiovascular disease risk. We questioned whether acute administration of n-3 rich triglyceride (TG) emulsions could preserve cardiac function and decrease injury after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) insult. We used two different experimental models: in vivo, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to acute occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), and ex-vivo, C57BL/6 murine hearts were perfused using Langendorff technique (LT). In the LAD model, mice treated with n-3 TG emulsion (1.5 g/kg body weight), immediately after ischemia and 1 h later during reperfusion, significantly reduced infarct size and maintained cardiac function (p<0.05). In the LT model, administration of n-3 TG emulsion (300 mg TG/100 ml) during reperfusion significantly improved functional recovery (p<0.05). In both models, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, as a marker of injury, were significantly reduced by n-3 TG emulsion. To investigate the mechanisms by which n-3 FAs protects hearts from I/R injury, we investigated changes in key pathways linked to cardioprotection. In the ex-vivo model, we showed that n-3 FAs increased phosphorylation of AKT and GSK3β proteins (p<0.05). Acute n-3 TG emulsion treatment also increased Bcl-2 protein level and reduced an autophagy marker, Beclin-1 (p<0.05). Additionally, cardioprotection by n-3 TG emulsion was linked to changes in PPARγ protein expression (p<0.05). Rosiglitazone and p-AKT inhibitor counteracted the positive effect of n-3 TG; GSK3β inhibitor plus n-3 TG significantly inhibited LDH release. We conclude that acute n-3 TG injection during reperfusion provides cardioprotection. This may prove to be a novel acute adjunctive reperfusion therapy after treating patients with myocardial infarction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / metabolism
  • Beclin-1
  • Chromones / pharmacology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Echocardiography
  • Emulsions / chemistry*
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / pharmacology
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / therapeutic use*
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / metabolism
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta
  • Indoles / pharmacology
  • Male
  • Maleimides / pharmacology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Morpholines / pharmacology
  • Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / drug therapy
  • Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / prevention & control*
  • PPAR gamma / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects

Substances

  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
  • Beclin-1
  • Becn1 protein, mouse
  • Chromones
  • Emulsions
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3
  • Indoles
  • Maleimides
  • Morpholines
  • PPAR gamma
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
  • SB 216763
  • 2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one
  • GSK3B protein, human
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta
  • Gsk3b protein, mouse
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3