Myocardial Protective Effects of Nicorandil on Rats with Type 2 Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

BackgroundDiabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common but underestimated cause of heart failure in patients with diabetes. This study investigated the myocardial-protective effects of nicorandil (Nic) on rats with DCM.Material/MethodsA total of forty-seven 180–220 g male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: a control group (control, n=8), a DCM group (DCM, n=13), a nicorandil-pretreated DCM group (Nic1, n=13), and a nicorandil-treated DCM group (Nic2, n=13). A rat model of type 2 diabetes was induced by high-fat and high-sugar diet and intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Nicorandil (3 mg/kg/d) was orally administrated to rats in the Nic1 group starting at week 4. Nicorandil (3 mg/kg/d) was orally administrated only after the induction of diabetes in the Nic2 group. The serum lipoids, plasma glucose, insulin levels, heart weight index, serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed in all groups.ResultsThe DCM group showed increased heart weight index, serum LDH, CK, and MDA content and decreased serum SOD activity, as compared with the control group (P<0.05). The DCM-induced increases in heart weight index, serum LDH, CK, and MDA content and decrease in serum SOD activity were attenuated in both Nic1 and Nic2 groups (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between Nic1 and Nic2 groups (P>0.05).ConclusionsNicorandil has protective effects on cardiac hypertrophy in DCM rats through increased SOD activity and decreased MDA content. Therefore, nicorandil may be a therapeutic method for diabetic patients with DCM.

Nicorandil decreases oxidative stress in slow‐ and fast‐twitch muscle fibers of diabetic rats by improving the glutathione system functioning

“…As expected, in the present study glycemia (Figure 1a), body weight (Figure 1b) and insulin sensitivity (Figure 2) were significantly affected in STZ-induced diabetic rats compared to control group, as it has been previously shown 31,41 . The above mentioned alterations were, at least partially, mitigated by Nicorandil.…”

“…Likewise, in STZ‐induced diabetic rats, Nicorandil protects, via a radical scavenging effect, islet β‐cells against damage induced by STZ, both in vivo and in vitro 29 . Moreover, Nicorandil has been used to treat diabetic complications such as nephropathy 30 , cardiomyopathy 31 , and cardiovascular diseases 28,32 . Nowadays, whether this protective effect occurs on myopathy diabetic, has yet to be defined.…”

Role of nitric oxide donor in methotrexate-induced testicular injury via modulation of pro-inflammatory mediators, eNOS and P-glycoprotein

“…These findings are in agreement with previous studies. 12,38 Wang et al suggested that NIC ameliorates hypoxia-induced apoptosis via unregulated eNOS expression, which in turn inhibits the NF-kB pathway and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. 39 Findings of our experiment observed that pretreatment with NIC upregulates the decreased protein expression of eNOS compared with the MTX group.…”

Dexmedetomidine Attenuates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Diabetes Mellitus by Inhibiting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

“…Eight-week-old SPF male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-250 g were housed in cages (fed freely and drink water), maintained at 20-25°C at room temperature (40-60% humidity), and exposed to light for 12 hours a day. One week after rat rearing, a rat type 2 DM model was established according to literature reports [21, 22]. Rats with type 2 DM were fed high-fat diet for 4 weeks.…”