Tanshinone IIA (Tan) exerts potential protective effects against
cardiovascular diseases. Oxidative stress and
inflammation are involved in
cardiac hypertrophy. Activation of silent information regulator 1 (
SIRT1) signaling has been suggested to attenuate
cardiac hypertrophy. This study aims to evaluate the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of Tan treatment in pressure overload-induced myocardial remodeling and elucidated its potential mechanisms. Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with Tan in the absence or presence of the
SIRT1 inhibitor
sirtinol (Snl) and then subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Tan conferred cardioprotective effects by improving cardiac function, reducing apoptosis and myocardial remodeling, upregulating
SIRT1, Bcl-2 expressions, and downregulating Bax and
caspase-3 expressions. Snl attenuated these effects by inhibiting
SIRT1 signaling. Tan treatment also reduced myocardium
malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and cardiac inflammatory
cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and increased myocardium
superoxide dismutase (SOD) level. However, these effects were also abolished by Snl. In conclusion, these results indicate that Tan significantly attenuates TAC-induced myocardial remodeling possibly due to its strong anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activity. Importantly,
SIRT1 signaling activation is involved in this process.