Kolaviron, a biflavonoid of Garcinia kola seed mitigates ischemic/reperfusion injury by modulation of pro-survival and apoptotic signaling pathways

OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to investigate the ameliorative effect of Kolaviron (KV) on ischemic/reperfusion injury in experimental animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1 received corn oil as a vehicle and rats in Group 2 were administered KV at 200 mg/kg for 4 weeks. The rats were fed with rat standard chow pellet and water administered ad libitum. After 4 weeks of KV administration, hearts were excised and mounted on the working heart perfusion system. Western blot analysis for protein expression was carried out on frozen heart samples. RESULTS: There was significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the activity of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase with concomitant reduction in oxygen radical absorbance capacity in ischemic rat heart of control compared to group pre-treated with KV, respectively. Similarly, intracellular reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde were significantly elevated in control compared to KV pre-treated rats. KV significantly increased total Akt/protein kinase B (PKB), phosphorylated Akt/PKB at serine 473 and also caused a significant reduction in p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, Caspase 3, and cleaved poly adenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase. CONCLUSION: Taken together, KV offered significant cardioprotection via free radical scavenging activity and upregulation of pro-survival pathway.