Cinnamaldehyde attenuates pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy

Background: Cinnamaldehyde is a major bioactive compound isolated from the leaves of Cinnamomum osmophloeum. Studies have demonstrated that cinnamaldehyde has anti-bacterial activity, anti-tumorigenic effect, immunomodulatory effect, anti-fungal activity, anti-oxidative effect, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effect. It has been proven that Cinnamaldehyde improves ischemia/reperfusion injury of pre-treatment. However, little is known about the effect of cinnamaldehyde on cardiac hypertrophy. Methods: Aortic banding (AB) was performed to induce cardiac hypertrophy in mice. Cinnamaldehyde premixed in diets was administered to mice after one week of AB. Echocardiography and catheter-based measurements of hemodynamic parameters were performed at week 7 after starting cinnamaldehyde (8 weeks after surgery). The extent of cardiac hypertrophy was evaluated by pathological and molecular analyses of heart samples. Meanwhile, the effect of cinnamaldehyde on myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and dysfunction induced by AB was investigated, as was assessed by heart weigh/body weight, lung weight/body weight, heart weight/tibia length, echocardiographic and haemodynamic parameters, histological analysis, and gene expression of hypertrophic and fibrotic markers. Results: Our data demonstrated that echocardiography and catheter-based measurements of hemodynamic parameters at week 7 revealed the amelioration of systolic and diastolic abnormalities by cinnamaldehyde intervention. Cardiac fibrosis in AB mice was also decreased by cinnamaldehyde. Moreover, the beneficial effect of cinnamaldehyde was associated with the normalization in gene expression of hypertrophic and fibrotic markers. Further studies showed that pressure overload significantly induced the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway, which was blocked by cinnamaldehyde. Conclusion: Cinnamaldehyde may be able to retard the progression of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, probably via blocking ERK signaling pathway.