Shikonin attenuates sympathetic remodeling in chronic heart failure mice via regulating miR-124

Shikonin is a naphthoquinone compound extracted from the root of Lithospermum with various pharmacological activities. Sympathetic neural remodeling greatly contributes to chronic heart failure. Growing evidence has identified a critical role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in a variety of cardiac biological processes. This study aimed to verify whether shikonin could attenuate sympathetic neural remodeling and explore the possible regulatory role of miRNAs in this process.Shikonin was administered to mice after transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Immunohistochemistry and western blotting were used to assess the expression of TAC-induced sympathetic remodeling-related proteins.TAC-induced expression of the sympathetic remodeling-related proteins, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), growth associated protein 43 (GAP43), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), and nerve growth factor (NGF), was significantly decreased in cardiac tissues. MiR-124 expression significantly increased after heart failure and decreased after shikonin treatment. An adeno-associated virus 9 (AAV9) vector was packaged and used to transfect myocardial tissues of aortic-constricted mice with miR-124, resulting in increased heart miR-124 levels and inhibition of the effects of shikonin on sympathetic neural remodeling. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the density of TH-, GAP43-, and ChAT-positive nerves was significantly increased in aortic-constricted mice after transfection with AAV9-miR-124.Our data demonstrate that shikonin administration prevents sympathetic neural remodeling in mice with TAC-induced heart failure. The effects of shikonin on heart failure may be partly due to miR-124-mediated attenuation of sympathetic remodeling. Our results reveal a novel mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of shikonin in heart failure.