Apelin-13 attenuates cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity through inhibition of ROS-mediated DNA damage and regulation of MAPKs and AKT pathways

Platinum-based chemotherapy represents one of the most effective ways in combating human cancers. However, the cardiotoxicity subsequent severely limited its clinical application. Increased evidences indicate that oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathological process of platinum-induced cardiotoxicity. It is reported that apelin-13 a bioactive peptide has the scavenging capacity of free radical, and it has the potential to regulate the cardiovascular system. Hence, the potential of apelin-13 to antagonize cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity was evaluated in H9c2 rat myocardial cells in vitro and in C57 mice in vivo. The results showed that cisplatin indeed caused DNA damage in H9c2 cells by promoting the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and superoxide anion, which led to cell apoptosis and resulted in overt cardiotoxicity. However, apelin-13 pre-treatment effectively attenuated the cisplatin-induced ROS and superoxide anion generation, inhibited DNA damage, and suppressed the PARP cleavage and caspases activation. Further investigation revealed that apelin-13 blocked cisplatin-induced H9c2 cells apoptosis involving the regulation of MAPKs and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Importantly, apelin-13 co-treatment also significantly attenuated cisplatin-induced cardiotoxicity in vivo by inhibiting myocardial cells apoptosis and improving angiogenesis in mice heart. Taken together, our results suggest that the use of apelin-13 may be an effective strategy for antagonizing the cardiotoxicity-induced by platinum-based chemotherapy.