Sodium Ferulate Inhibits Rat Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy Induced by Angiotensin II Through Enhancement of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase/Nitric Oxide/Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate Signaling Pathway

Sodium ferulate (SF) is the sodium salt of ferulic acid, which is one of the effective components of Angelica sinensis and Lignsticum chuanxiong, and plays an important role in protecting the cardiovascular system. In this study, myocardial hypertrophy was induced by angiotensin II 0.1 mu mol/L in neonatal Sprague-Dawley rat ventricular myocytes. Nine groups were designed, that is, normal, normal administration, model, L-arginine (L-arg 1000 mu mol/L), SF (50, 100, 200 mu mol/L) group, and N-G-nitro-L-arg-methyl ester 1500 mu mol/L combined with SF 200 mu mol/L or L-arg 1000 mu mol/L group, respectively. Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was confirmed by observing histological changes and measurements of cell diameter, protein content and atrial natriuretic factor, and beta-myosin heavy chain levels of the cells. Notably, SF could inhibit significantly myocardial hypertrophy of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes in a concentration-dependent manner without producing cytotoxicity, and the levels of nitric oxide, NO synthase (NOS), endothelial NOS, and cyclic guanosine monophosphate were increased, but the level of cyclic adenosine monophosphate was decreased in cardiomyocytes. Simultaneously, levels of protein kinase C beta, Raf-1, and extracellular regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) were downregulated, whereas levels of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 were significantly upregulated. All the beneficial effects of SF were blunted by N-G-nitro-L-arg-methyl ester. Overall, these findings reveal that SF can inhibit angiotensin II-induced myocardial hypertrophy of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, which is closely related to activation of endothelial NOS/NO/cyclic guanosine monophosphate, and inhibition of protein kinase C and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.