Ginsenoside Rg1 Protects against Cardiac Remodeling in Heart Failure via SIRT1/PINK1/Parkin‐Mediated Mitophagy

Abstract

Adverse cardiac remodeling may lead to the development and progression of heart failure, which is lack of effective clinical treatment. Ginsenoside Rg1 (GRg1), a primary ingredient of Panax ginseng, protects against diverse cardiovascular disease, but its effects on cardiac remodeling remain unclear. Thus, we investigated the protective effect and mechanism of GRg1 on cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction. GRg1 significantly ameliorated cardiac remodeling in mice with left anterior descending coronary artery ligation, reflected by reduced left ventricular dilation and decreased cardiac fibrosis, accompanied by improved cardiac function. Mechanistically, GRg1 considerably increased mitophagosomes formation, ameliorated cardiac mitochondria damage, and enhanced SIRT1/PINK1/Parkin‐mediated mitophagy during cardiac remodeling. Consistently, GRg1 increased cell viability and attenuated apoptosis and fibrotic responses in H ₂O ₂‐treated H9c2 cells by promoting the SIRT1/PINK1/Parkin axis. Furthermore, SIRT1‐specific inhibitor (EX527) or the use of small interfering RNA against Parkin abolished the protective effect of GRg1 in vitro. These findings reveal a novel mechanism of GRg1 alleviating cardiac remodeling via enhancing SIRT1/PINK1/Parkin‐mediated mitophagy.