The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of silymarin on cardiac hypertrophy induced by partial abdominal aortic constriction (PAAC) in Wistar rats. Silymarin was administered for 9 weeks at the end of which we evaluated hypertrophic, hemodynamic, non-specific cardiac markers, oxidative stress parameters, and determined mitochondrial DNA concentration. Hypertrophic control animals exhibited cardiac hypertrophy, altered hemodynamics, oxidative stress, and decreased mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) concentration. Treatment with silymarin prevented cardiac hypertrophy, improved hemodynamic functions, prevented oxidative stress and increased mitochondrial DNA concentration. Docking studies revealed that silymarin produces maximum docking score with mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) p38 as compared to other relevant proteins docked. Moreover, PAAC-control rats exhibited significantly increased expression of MAPK p38β mRNA levels which were significantly decreased by the treatment of silymarin. Our data suggest that silymarin produces beneficial effects on cardiac hypertrophy which are likely to be mediated through inhibition of MAPK p38β.
Keywords: Cardiac hypertrophy; MAPK p38 β; Mitochondrial DNA; Partial abdominal aortic constriction (PAAC); Silymarin.