Qian-Kun-Nin, a Chinese herbal medicine formulation, attenuates
mitochondrial oxidant stress in cardiomyocytes.
Shao Z, Li C, Becker LB, Vanden Hoek TL, Schumacker PT, Attele AS, Zhang L, Xie J, Yuan
C
Department of Medicine-Sections of Emergency Medicine and Pulmonary/Critical Care,
University of Chicago, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA
[Record supplied by publisher]
Qian-Kun-Nin is a Chinese herbal medicine formulation used for several indications,
including the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This formulation contains herbs which
possess antioxidant properties. In this study, Qian-Kun-Nin's ability to confer protection
to cardiomyocytes against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during mitochondrial
electron transport inhibition was tested. The intracellular fluorescent probe
2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA, sensitive to H(2)O(2) and hydroxyl radicals)
was used to assess intracellular ROS, and propidium iodide (PI) was used to assess
viability in cultured chick embryonic cardiomyocytes. Qian-Kun-Nin significantly
attenuated oxidation of DCFH in cells exposed to the mitochondrial site III inhibitor,
antimycin A, consistent with a decrease in oxidative stress. These attenuated oxidant
levels were associated with improved cell survival. After antimycin A exposure,
Qian-Kun-Nin decreased cell death from 51.6+/-3.3% in untreated cells to 27.3+/-3.8% in
treated cells at 2 h. We conclude that Qian-Kun-Nin attenuates oxidant stress and protects
cells from lethal oxidant damage during mitochondrial electron transport inhibition, and
thus its therapeutic potential in treating cardiovascular diseases may relate to its
antioxidant properties.