Formononetin ameliorates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats by suppressing the ROS-TXNIP-NLRP3 pathway.

Formononetin (FN), a methoxy isoflavone abundant in many plants and herbs, has been evidently proven to possess multiple medicinal properties. Our study aimed to clarify the impact of FN on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury (MIRI) and the involved mechanism. A rat model of MIRI was produced by ligation and loosening of the left anterior descending (LAD) branch of the coronary artery. Rats received 10 and 30 mg/kg of FN when the reperfusion started. At 24 h after surgery, cardiac function, infarct size, and sera levels of the cardiac markers and inflammatory mediators were measured. To mimic the inflammasome activation in cardiomyocytes, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) were cultured and treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus nigericin. Cell death and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined. Myocardial expression and activation of the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in rats were examined by western blotting. The level of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP)-NLRP3 interaction was assessed. FN notably attenuated cardiac dysfunction, infarct size, release of cardiac markers, and elevation of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. FN alleviated LPS plus nigericin-induced injury and ROS increase in NRCMs. Western blotting revealed that FN suppressed the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and TXNIP-NLRP3 interaction in rats. These findings indicate that FN ameliorated MIRI in rats and inhibited the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, at least partially, attributable to suppression of the ROS-TXNIP-NLRP3 pathway.