Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Sep 2022)

Selective protein kinase C inhibition switches time-dependent glucose cardiotoxicity to cardioprotection

  • Sean Brennan,
  • Simona Esposito,
  • Simona Esposito,
  • Muhammad I. M. Abdelaziz,
  • Christopher A. Martin,
  • Samir Makwana,
  • Mark W. Sims,
  • Iain B. Squire,
  • Iain B. Squire,
  • Parveen Sharma,
  • Amy E. Chadwick,
  • Richard D. Rainbow

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.997013
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Hyperglycaemia at the time of myocardial infarction has an adverse effect on prognosis irrespective of a prior diagnosis of diabetes, suggesting glucose is the damaging factor. In ex vivo models of ischaemia, we demonstrated that deleterious effects of acutely elevated glucose are PKCα/β-dependent, and providing PKCα/β are inhibited, elevated glucose confers cardioprotection. Short pre-treatments with high glucose were used to investigate time-dependent glucose cardiotoxicity, with PKCα/β inhibition investigated as a potential mechanism to reverse the toxicity. Freshly isolated non-diabetic rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to elevated glucose to investigate the time-dependence toxic effects. High glucose challenge for >7.5 min was cardiotoxic, proarrhythmic and lead to contractile failure, whilst cardiomyocytes exposed to metabolic inhibition following 5-min high glucose, displayed a time-dependent protection lasting ∼15 min. This protection was further enhanced with PKCα/β inhibition. Cardioprotection was measured as a delay in contractile failure and KATP channel activation, improved contractile and Ca2+ transient recovery and increased cell survival. Finally, the effects of pre-ischaemic treatment with high glucose in a whole-heart coronary ligation protocol, where protection was evident with PKCα/β inhibition. Selective PKCα/β inhibition enhances protection suggesting glycaemic control with PKC inhibition as a potential cardioprotective therapeutics in myocardial infarction and elective cardiac surgery.

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