miR-503 Is Involved in the Protective Effect of Phase II Enzyme Inducer (CPDT) in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy via Nrf2/ARE Signaling Pathway

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common heart disease. The Phase II enzyme inducer (CPDT) is a complex enzyme that promotes the expression of antioxidant enzymes through activating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2); these compounds have been shown to protect against oxidative stress. However, whether these compounds have similar protective effects in DCM still remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effects and potential mechanism of CPDT in diabetic cardiomyopathy. In the results, firstly, compared with control rats, myocardial cell size, left ventricular mass index, and myocardial apoptosis index were increased, miR-503 was increased, and Nrf2, malondialdehyde (MDA), and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) were decreased in diabetic cardiomyopathy rats. Furthermore, compared with diabetic cardiomyopathy rats, these above parameters show the opposite change in CPDT treatment rats. In addition, the bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that Nrf2 is a direct target of miR-503. Finally, the miR-503 could also regulate Nrf2 in the myocardial cells. Therefore, miR-503 is involved in the protective effect of CPDT in diabetic cardiomyopathy via Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway; miR-503 and Nrf2 may be a promising therapeutic target for the management of diabetic cardiomyopathy.