Effects of Xinkang recipe on myocardial miR-25-3p expression and SERCA2a activity in heart failure rats

AIM: To investigate the effects of Xinkang recipe on myocardial miR-25-3p expression and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2a (SERCA2a) activity in heart failure rats. METHODS: Male SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, sham group, model group, Xinkang recipe group (Xinkang group), and captopril group. The heart failure rat model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of doxorubicin. Distilled water, Xinkang recipe and captopril were administrated by gastric gavage for 35 d, respectively. The indexes of cardiac function and plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured. The SERCA2a activity was determined by the inorganic phosphorus method. The myocardial protein expression of SERCA2a and phospholamban (PLB) was detected by Western blot. The myocardial expression of miR-25-3p was detected by stem-loop RT-qPCR. RESULTS: Cardiac output (CO), left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in Xinkang group and captopril group were significantly higher while the plasma levels of BNP were significantly lower than those in model group (P<0.01). The myocardial expression levels of miR-25-3p in Xinkang group and captopril group were significantly lower while the myocardial protein le-vels of SERCA2a and PLB were significantly higher than those in model group (P<0.01). The SERCA2a/PLB ratio and SERCA2a activity in Xinkang group were significantly higher than those in model group (P<0.05), and no significant change was observed between captopril group and model group. CONCLUSION: Xinkang recipe therapy may improve cardiac function in heart failure rats, which may be related to inhibiting the expression of miR-25-3p, increasing the SERCA2a/PLB ratio and enhancing SERCA2a activity in the myocardium.