The molecular mechanism involved in cardioprotection by the dietary flavonoid fisetin as an agonist of PPAR-γ in a murine model of myocardial infarction

Abstract The methodology exploring the cardioprotective potential of the flavonoid Fisetin through its ability to modulate PPAR-γ was unraveled in the present study. Computational modelling through molecular docking based binding study of interactions between Fiestin and PPAR-γ revealed the potential role of Fisetin as an agonist of PPAR-γ. A murine model of cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury was used to explore this further. Male Wistar Rats were randomly assigned to five groups. Fisetin (20 mg/kg; p. o) was administered for 28 days. Ischemia was induced for 45 min on the 29th day followed by 60 min of reperfusion. Fisetin pretreatment upregulated the expression of PPAR-γ in heart tissue significantly Cardioprotection was assessed by measurement of hemodynamic parameters, infarct size, ELISA for oxidative stress, immunohistochemistry and TUNEL assay for apoptosis, and western blot analysis for MAPK proteins and inflammation. PPAR-γ activation by fisetin led to significantly reduced infarct size, suppression of oxidative stress, reduction of cardiac injury markers, alleviation of inflammation, and inhibition of apoptosis The MAPK-based molecular mechanism showed a rise in a key prosurvival kinase, ERK1/ERK2 and suppression of JNK and p38 proteins. The aforementioned beneficial findings of fisetin were reversed on the administration of a specific antagonist of PPAR-γ. In conclusion, through our experiments, we have proved that fisetin protects the heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury and the evident cardioprotection is PPAR-γ dependant. In conclusion, our study has revealed a prime mechanism involved in the cardioprotective effects of fisetin. Hence, Fisetin may be evaluated in further clinical studies as a cardioprotective agent in patients undergoing reperfusion interventions.