Puerarin pretreatment provides protection against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury via inhibiting excessive autophagy and apoptosis by modulation of HES1

The study aimed to elucidate the underlying pharmacological mechanism of the traditional Chinese medicine Pue in ameliorating myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI), a critical clinical challenge exacerbated by reperfusion therapy. In vivo MIRI and in vitro anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) models were constructed. The results demonstrated that Pue pretreatment effectively alleviated MIRI, as manifested by diminishing the levels of serum CK-MB and LDH, mitigating the extent of myocardial infarction and enhancing cardiac functionality. Additionally, Pue significantly alleviated histopathological damage in MIRI-treated myocardium, as evidenced by HE staining and TUNEL assay. In vitro, Pue pretreatment significantly alleviated A/R-induced damage by decreasing LDH levels, increasing cellular activity, inhibiting autophagic lysosomal overactivation, inhibiting oxidative stress (ROS, LIP ROS, MDA), increasing antioxidant defense (SOD, GSH-Px), and increasing P62 protein expression while decreasing LC3II/I ratio. Furthermore, Pue inhibited apoptosis and maintained mitochondrial homeostasis by up-regulating the expression of Hairy and Enhancer of Split-1 (HES1) protein, which was crucial for its cardioprotective effects. Nevertheless, the cardioprotective efficacy of Pue pretreatment was negated via the knockdown of HES1 protein expression via pAD/HES1-shRNA transfection. In conclusion, Pue effectively ameliorated HES1-mediated MIRI-induced autophagy, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction.