Alleviation of Myocardial Inflammation in Diabetic Rats by Flavonoid Extract of Helichrysum Arenarium and Its Effect on Damaged Myocardial Cells Induced by High Glucose

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of helichrysum arenarium flavonoid extract on high glucose damaged cardiomyocytes and the alleviation of myocardial inflammation in diabetic rats. METHODS: The study was divided into two parts, the first part was a cellular experiment in which a high-glucose cardiomyocyte injury model (H9C2) was established using a high-glucose culture medium, divided into low (group N1, 6.25 μg/mL), medium (group N2, 12.5 μg/mL), high dose group (group N3, 25 μg/mL) of helichrysum arenarium intervention and a model control group. The levels of enzyme activities [creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)] in each group of H9c2 cells were measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the expression levels of apoptotic proteins (Bax and Bcl-2) by western blot (WB), and the expression levels of inflammatory factors [tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6)] by RT-qPCR. The second part is animal experiments, after establishing the diabetic rat model, we used helichrysum arenarium flavonoid extract to intervene SD rats, divided into helichrysum arenarium intervention low (group S1, 250 mg/kg), medium (group S2, 500 mg/kg), high dose group (group S3, 1 g/kg), SD rat model group. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe myocardial tissue lesions, and Real Time Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) method was used to detect inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) infiltration in myocardial tissue. RESULTS: Cellular experiments: The activity levels of enzymes such as CK and LDH and the levels of inflammatory factors such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in damaged cardiac myocytes were significantly decreased after helichrysum arenarium intervention; the expression levels of Bax protein were significantly down-regulated and the expression levels of Bcl-2 protein expression were significantly up-regulated. Animal experiment: HE staining showed that the model group had widened intercellular spaces, interstitial edema and obvious inflammatory cell infiltration in cardiac muscle tissue. After the intervention of helichrysum arenarium, the collagen fibers of rat myocardial cells were significantly reduced and cell degeneration was alleviated. Animal experiment: HE staining showed that the model group had widened intercellular spaces, interstitial edema and obvious inflammatory cell infiltration in cardiac muscle tissue. After the intervention of helichrysum arenarium, the collagen fibers of rat myocardial cells were significantly reduced and cell degeneration was alleviated; the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and other inflammatory factors in myocardial tissues were significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: The helichrysum arenarium flavonoid extract can reduce the degree of damage of H9C2 cells induced by high glucose and decrease the cellular inflammatory response, and its mechanism of action may be achieved by regulating the apoptotic factors Bax and Bcl-2. In addition, the extract of helichrysum arenarium can reduce the histopathological damage of myocardium in diabetic rats, decrease the inflammatory response in the tissue, and achieve the effect of myocardial protection.