Efficacy of water fraction from Dioscorea cirrhosa on oxidative stress and apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyocytes induced by H2O2.

Objective To investigate the efficacy of water fraction from Dioscorea cirrhosa (WF) on oxidative damage and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes induced by H2O2, and to study its mechanism. Methods Cell viability was measured by the MST assay kit. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA), release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and activity of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected by biochemical kit. The content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed by nonfluorescent probe 2' ,7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA). JC-1 was used to analyze the mitochondrial membrane potential (mtΔΨ) and Annexin-V-FITC/PI staining was applied to assess apoptosis of H9c2 by flow cytometry. Moreover, the expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X (Bax), caspase-3, caspase-9, cleaved-caspase-3 and cleaved-caspase -9 proteins was determined by western blot analysis. Results WF increased cell viability and decreased LDH leakage in H9c2 cells exposed to H2O2. WF treatment decreased ROS and MDA level, enhanced SOD and CAT activities, improved mtΔΨ and inhibited apoptosis. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax was increased and the expression cleaved-caspase-3, caspase-3, cleaved-caspase-9 and caspase-9 were decreased in group treated with WF. Conclusion WF protects H9c2 myocardial cells on H2O2-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis by scavenging ROS, improving antioxidant capacity, protecting mitochondrial and regulating the proteins expression related to apoptosis.