Moringa oleifera (MOI), an edible plant in the family of Moringaceae, has been used as food and medicine in many Asian countries. MOI exhibits neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hypoglycemic functions. However, whether MOI seeds play a significant role in ischemic heart diseases has not been investigated. In this study, we found MOI seeds could improve the 28-day survival rate and the cardiac functions of myocardial infarction (MI) mice, with significantly increased ejection fraction and fractional shortening by day 28 post-MI. Correspondingly, the infarctional areas of heart were markedly decreased. Mechanistically, MOI seeds inhibited MI-induced apoptosis and repressed the degree of cardiac fibrosis. Further mechanistic studies indicated cardioprotective the effects of MOI seeds mainly via the suppression of oxidative and nitrosative stress. Taken together, our work suggested a beneficial role of MOI seeds in MI-induced myocardial damage and cardiac remodeling by suppressing cardiomyocyte apoptosis and reducing collagen production, highlighting a promising therapeutic strategy for MI.
Keywords: Moringa oleifera; antioxidant; apoptosis; cardiac remodeling; myocardial infarction.
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