Li Xu

Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Salvianolic acid B (Sal B) is one of the main water‑soluble components of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. Numerous studies have demonstrated that Sal B could exert significant anti‑inflammatory and cardiovascular protective effects; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To elucidate the association between myocardial ischemia and inflammation, and to develop effective protective drugs, a rat model of myocardial ischemia was induced using isoproterenol (ISO) and an inflammation model in H9C2 cells was induced with lipopolysaccharide + adenosine triphosphate. Both of these models were treated with different concentrations of Sal B (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg in vivo; 1, 5 and 25 µM in vitro). In vivo, the serum levels of creatine kinase isoenzyme MB, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and IL‑1β, the cardiac function and the mRNA expression levels of NLR family pyrin domain‑containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome components were evaluated using ELISAs, an electrocardiogram, hematoxylin and eosin staining and reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR, respectively. The results demonstrated that treatment with Sal B markedly alleviated the acute myocardial ischemic injury induced by hypodermic injection of ISO in rats. In vitro, the results of reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, JC‑1 staining, western blotting and TUNEL assays showed that Sal B treatment significantly inhibited intracellular ROS production, increased the mitochondrial membrane potential, regulated the expression of mitophagy‑related proteins, inhibited the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and inhibited apoptosis in H9C2 cells. In conclusion, these findings indicated that Sal B exerted protective effects against myocardial ischemic injury by promoting mitophagy and maintaining mitochondrial function.

Salvianolic acid B (Sal B) is one of the main water‑soluble components of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. Numerous reports have demonstrated that it could exert significant renal‑protective effects, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The present study demonstrated that Sal B could alleviate renal injury by regulating the heparanase/syndecan‑1 (HPSE/SDC1) axis. In vivo, the serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, transforming growth factor‑β1 (TGF‑β1) and fibroblast growth factor‑2 (FGF‑2) levels, and the histopathological changes of mice kidneys were examined. Sal B could notably reduce the renal injury caused by left ureteral ligation. In vitro, Sal B downregulated the expression levels of HPSE/FGF‑2/TGF‑β1/α‑smooth muscle actin and upregulated the expression levels of SDC1/E‑cadherin in angiotensin II‑stimulated HK‑2 cells in a dose‑dependent manner. In summary, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the present study provided evidence for the first time that Sal B could exert renal‑protective effects via the inhibition of the HPSE/SDC1 axis, and these results suggest that the administration of Sal B may be a novel therapeutic strategy in treating renal interstitial fibrosis.

Salvianolic acid B is one of the main water-soluble components of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. Many reports have shown that it has significant anti-myocardial ischemia effect. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Our present study demonstrated that Sal B could alleviate myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting the priming phase of NLRP3 inflammasome. In vivo, serum c-troponin I (cTn), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, the cardiac function and infract size were examined. We found that Sal B could notably reduce the myocardial ischemic injury caused by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. In vitro, Sal B down-regulated the TLR4/NF-κB signaling cascades in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated H9C2 cells. Furthermore, Sal B reduced the expression levels of IL-1β and NLRP3 inflammasome in a dose-dependent manner. In short, our study provided evidence that Sal B could attenuate myocardial ischemic injury via inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway. And in an upstream level, MD-2 may be the potential target.