The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether rosuvastatin was effective in attenuating cardiac injury in lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-challenged mice and H9C2 cells and identify the underlying mechanisms, focusing on the NLRP3/TLR4 pathway. Cardiac injury, cardiac function, apoptosis, oxidative stress, inflammatory response and the NLRP3/TLR4 pathway were evaluated in both in vivo and in vitro studies. LPS-induced cardiomyocytes injury was markedly attenuated by rosuvastatin treatment. Apoptosis was clearly ameliorated in myocardial tissue and H9C2 cells cotreated with rosuvastatin. In addition, excessive oxidative stress was present, as indicated by increases in MDA content, NADPH activity and ROS production and decreased SOD activity after LPS challenge. Rosuvastatin improved all the indicators of oxidative stress, with a similar effect to NAC(ROS scavenger). Notably, LPS-exposed H9C2 cells and mice showed significant NLRP3 and TLR4/NF-κB pathway activation. Administration of rosuvastatin reduced the increases in expression of NLRP3, ASC, pro-caspase-1, TLR4, and p65 and decreased the contents of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-18 and IL-6, with a similar effect as MCC950 (NLRP3 inhibitor). In conclusion, inhibition of the inflammatory response and oxidative stress contributes to cardioprotection of rosuvastatin on cardiac injury induced by LPS, and the effect of rosuvastatin was achieved by inactivation of the NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway
Interleukin-12p35 Knock Out Aggravates Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiac Injury and Dysfunction by Aggravating the Inflammatory Response, Oxidative Stress, Apoptosis and Autophagy in Mice