BOT-5 Chrysanthemum morifolium extract improves doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy by suppressing apoptosis in mouse heart

Background: Doxorubicin is widely used for the treatment of various malignant tumors. However, doxorubicin causes cumulative and dose-dependent cardiotoxicity, ranging from occult changes in myocardial structure and function to severe cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. Since this problem affects the QOL and survival of cancer patients, solutions for this problem are urgently needed. Recently, it has been reported that Chrysanthemum morifolium extracts (CME) have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The purpose of this study is to clarify whether CME decreases doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and prevents the development of heart failure. Methods and Results: H9C2 cardiomyoblast cells were treated with CME (0.3, 1 mg/mL) for 2 hours and then stimulated with doxorubicin. After 24 hours incubation, surviving cells were evaluated by MTT assay. CME dose-dependently decreased doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in H9C2 cells. Western blotting showed that CME significantly suppressed doxorubicin-induced increases in four markers of apoptosis: p53, phosphorylated p53, and cleaved caspase-9 and -3. Next, to investigate the effects of CME on doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy in vivo, C57BL6 mice were orally administered with CME (400 mg/kg/day) or vehicle daily from 2 days before doxorubicin treatment and then treated once intraperitoneally with doxorubicin (20 mg/kg). The survival ratio of the CME-treated group was significantly higher than that of the vehicle-treated group. Echocardiographic analysis at 7 days after doxorubicin stimulation revealed that CME had significantly improved doxorubicin-induced left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Apoptotic cells in mouse heart tissue were detected by TUNEL assay, which showed that CME significantly suppressed doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Discussion: These results indicate that CME decreases doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that CME might possess the therapeutic potency to reduce doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in cancer patients. Further studies are required to assess the effectiveness of CME for preventing doxorubicin-induced heart failure in clinical settings.