Panax quinquefolius L. Saponins Protect Myocardial Ischemia Reperfusion No-Reflow Through Inhibiting the Activation of NLRP3 Inflammasome via TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB Signaling Pathway

• Main Authors: Ping Yu, Yuangeng Li, Wenwen Fu, Xin Li, Yanzhe Liu, Yaozhen Wang, Xiaofeng Yu, Huali Xu, Dayun Sui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-01-01
• Series: Frontiers in Pharmacology
• Subjects: panax quinquefolius L. saponin; myocardial ischemia reperfusion no-reflow; inflammatory response; leukocytes; NLRP3 inflammasome
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.607813/full

At present, many patients who undergo reperfusion immediately after percutaneous coronary intervention will undergo microvascular obstruction and reduction in myocardial blood flow. This phenomenon is called “no-reflow (NR),” and there is still no effective therapy for NR. Studies showed Panax quinquefolius L. saponins (PQS) have effect on MI/R injury, while the effect and mechanism of PQS on MI/R induced NR are not clear. In this study, we established a MI/R model to investigate whether PQS decrease NR phenomenon via suppression of inflammation. We found that PQS significantly alleviated the symptoms of NR by reducing ischemia, infarction, and NR area; improving cardiac function; preventing pathological morphology changes of myocardium; depressing leukocytes’ aggregation and adhesion; and suppressing the excessive inflammation. Further study demonstrated that PQS remarkably inhibited TLR4, MyD88, p-NF-κB, and NLRP3 inflammasome-associated protein, and these effects could be reversed by LPS. These results indicated that PQS may protect NR by inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome via TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway in part, suggesting that PQS exist potential in preventing NR induced by MI/R.