Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Evaluation of cardioprotective effects of genistein against diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction in rats

Heng-Song Tian , Guo-Qing Zhou, Zhi-Yong Zhu

Department of Cardiology, Pingmei ShenMa Medical Group General Hospital, Henan 467099, China;

For correspondence:- Heng-Song Tian Email: hengsong2709@gmail.com Tel:+863752799330

Received: 6 February 2015 Accepted: 1 October 2015 Published: 29 November 2015

Citation: Tian H, Zhou G, Zhu Z. Evaluation of cardioprotective effects of genistein against diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction in rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(11):2015-2022 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i10.10

© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the possible cardioprotective effects and potential pharmacological mechanism of genistein.

Methods: Six-week old ZDF and lean rats were randomized into 4 groups (8 rats/group), including group 1 (control lean rats); group 2 (lean rats treated with genistein, 2.5 mg/kg); group 3 (control ZDF rats); and group 4 (ZDF treated with genistein). Two groups (2 and 4) were treated with genistein for 12 weeks, and cardiac functions and metabolic alterations were determined. Macrophage/monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1 (MCP-1), vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) secretion and their messenger RNA transcription level also were observed.

Results: Genistein attenuated diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction and pathological alterations, by improving glucose tolerance and insulin resistance; facilitating Akt activation and glucose utilization, and attenuating oxidative stress and interrelated MAP kinase and NF-κB signalling pathways. In addition, genistein treatment markedly reduced diabetic-induced MCP-1 (83.33 %), VCAM-1 (74.66 %) and ICAM-1 (71.42 %) secretion and mRNA transcription in ZDF rats.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate the putative effects of genistein against cardiovascular dysfunction by improving glucose homeostasis, attenuating oxidative stress and reduced diabetic-induced endothelial dysfunction in ZDF rats. Thus, genistein is a potential candidate for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.