High glucose induced calcium overload via impairment of SERCA/PLN pathway and mitochondrial dysfunction leads to oxidative stress in H9c2 cells and amelioration with ferulic acid.

Oxidative stress and associated complications are the major pathological concerns of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC). We aim to elucidate the mechanisms by which high glucose (HG) induced alteration in calcium homeostasis and evaluation of the beneficial effect of two concentrations (10 and 25 μM) of ferulic acid (FA). HG was induced in H9c2 cardiomyoblast by treating with glucose (33 mM) for 48 h, and FA was co-treated. [Ca2+ ]i overload was found increased significantly with HG. For elucidation of mechanism, the SERCA pathway and mitochondrial integrity (transmembrane potential and permeability transition pore) were explored. Then we assessed oxidative stress, and cell injury with brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. HG caused significant [Ca2+ ]i overload through down regulation of SERCA2/1, pPLN and pPKA C-α; and upregulation of PLN and PKA C-α and alteration in the integrity of mitochondria with HG. The [Ca2+ ]i overload in turn caused oxidative stress via generation of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation. This resulted in cell injury which was evident with significant release of BNP, ANP and LDH. FA co-treatment was effective to mitigate all pathological changes caused by HG. From the overall results, we conclude that [Ca2+ ]i overload via SERCA pathway and altered mitochondrial integrity is the main cause for oxidative stress during HG. Based on our result we report that FA could be an attractive nutraceutical for DC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.