Oxidative stress contributes to the onset of chronic diseases in various organs, including muscles. Morroniside, a type of iridoid glycoside contained in Cornus officinalis, is reported to have advantages as a natural compound that prevents various diseases. However, the question of whether this phytochemical exerts any inhibitory effect against oxidative stress in muscle cells has not been well reported. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate whether morroniside can protect against oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in murine C2C12 myoblasts. Our results demonstrate that morroniside pretreatment was able to inhibit cytotoxicity while suppressing H2O2-induced DNA damage and apoptosis. Morroniside also significantly improved the antioxidant capacity in H2O2-challenged C2C12 cells by blocking the production of cellular reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial superoxide and increasing glutathione production. In addition, H2O2-induced mitochondrial damage and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress were effectively attenuated by morroniside pretreatment, inhibiting cytoplasmic leakage of cytochrome c and expression of ER stress-related proteins. Furthermore, morroniside neutralized H2O2-mediated calcium (Ca2+) overload in mitochondria and mitigated the expression of calpains, cytosolic Ca2+-dependent proteases. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that morroniside protected against mitochondrial impairment and Ca2+-mediated ER stress by minimizing oxidative stress, thereby inhibiting H2O2-induced cytotoxicity in C2C12 myoblasts.
Keywords: Ca2+; ER stress; Mitochondrial damage; Morroniside; Oxidative stress.