Cardioprotective effects of polydatin against myocardial injury in diabetic rats via inhibition of NADPH oxidase and NF-κB activities

BACKGROUND: Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a main cause of the increased morbidity in diabetic patients, no effective treatment is available so far. Polydatin, a resveratrol glucoside isolated from the Polygonum cuspidatum, was found by our and others have antioxidant and cardioprotective activities. Therapeutic effects of polydatin on diabetic cardiomyopathy and the possible mechanisms remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the cardioprotective effects and underlying mechanisms of polydatin on myocardial injury induced by hyperglycemia. METHODS: Diabetes in rats was made by high-fat diet combined with multiple low doses of streptozotocin, and then treated with polydatin (100 mg·kg-1·day-1, by gavage) for 8 weeks. Cardiac function was examined by echocardiography. Myocardial tissue and blood samples were collected for histology, protein and metabolic characteristics analysis. In cultured H9c2 cells with 30 mM of glucose, the direct effects of polydatin on myocyte injury were also observed. RESULTS: In diabetic rats, polydatin administration significantly improved myocardial dysfunction and attenuated histological abnormalities, as evidenced by elevating left ventricular shortening fraction and ejection fraction, as well as reducing cardiac hypertrophy and interstitial fibrosis. In cultured H9c2 cells, pretreatment of polydatin dose-dependently inhibited high glucose-induced cardiomyocyte injury. Further observation evidenced that polydatin suppressed the increase in the reactive oxygen species levels, NADPH oxidase activity and inflammatory cytokines production induced by hyperglycemia in vivo and in vitro. Polydatin also prevented the increase expression of NOX4, NOX2 and NF-κB in the high glucose -stimulated H9c2 cells and diabetic hearts. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the cardioprotective effect of polydatin against hyperglycemia-induced myocardial injury is mediated by inhibition of NADPH oxidase and NF-κB activity. The findings may provide a novel understanding the mechanisms of the polydatin to be a potential treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-020-03177-y.