Effects of WN1703 on Cardiovascular Function in Chronic Hyperuricemia Rats and Myocardial Injury Mechanism Exploration in H9C2 Cells

ABSTRACT Hyperuricemia, a prevalent condition, is typically preceded by disturbances in purine metabolism and is frequently associated with hyperlipidemia and other dysfunctions of metabolism. WN1703 demonstrated an inhibitory activity against xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) that was comparable to febuxostat in our prior investigation. In this study, we assessed the cardiovascular safety of WN1703 in a chronic hyperuricemia rat model induced by potassium oxonate in combination with hypoxanthine. We investigated the changes in cardiovascular biomarkers in chronic hyperuricemia rats treated with febuxostat and WN1703, including creatine kinase (CK), CK‐MB, B type natriuretic peptide (BNP), Corin protein (CRN), Neprilysin (NEP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), 8‐hydroxy‐2‐deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG), tumor necrosis factor (TNF‐α), interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), and interleukin‐8 (IL‐8). Additionally, we validated the potential mechanism of cardiac injury induced by WN1703 in H9C2 cells, guided by cardiotoxicity predictions from the cardioToxCSM database and network pharmacology. We observed that excessively rapid urate‐lowering, oxidative stress, and inflammation could disrupt myocardial functional homeostasis and increase the risk of cardiovascular injury in hyperuricemia rats, and WN1703 treatment effectively reduced the levels oxidative stress marker 8‐OHdG and inflammatory factor TNF‐α. Despite the absence of organic damage to the heart with prolonged treatment of febuxostat and WN1703, potential hazard of cardiovascular injury could be associated with the modulation of the TGFβ and RHO/ROCK signaling pathways by febuxostat and WN1703. This could offer new insights into the mechanisms underlying the adverse effects caused by XOR inhibitors.