Acid sphingomyelinase promotes diabetic cardiomyopathy via NADPH oxidase 4 mediated apoptosis

BackgroundIncreased acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase) activity is associated with insulin resistance and cardiac dysfunction. However, the effects of ASMase on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and the molecular mechanism(s) underlying remain to be elucidated. We here investigated whether ASMase caused DCM through NADPH oxidase 4-mediated apoptosis.Methods and resultsWe used pharmacological and genetic approaches coupled with study of murine and cell line samples to reveal the mechanisms initiated by ASMase in diabetic hearts. The protein expression and activity of ASMase were upregulated, meanwhile ceramide accumulation was increased in the myocardium of HFD mice. Inhibition of ASMase with imipramine (20 mg Kg(-1) d(-1)) or siRNA reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis, fibrosis, and mitigated cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction in HFD mice. The similar effects were observed in cardiomyocytes treated with high glucose (HG, 30 mmol L-1) + palmitic acid (PA, 100 mu mol L-1) or C16 ceramide (CER, 20 mu mol L-1). Interestingly, the cardioprotective effect of ASMase inhibition was not accompanied by reduced ceramide accumulation, indicating a ceramide-independent manner. The mechanism may involve activated NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), increased ROS generation and triggered apoptosis. Suppression of NOX4 with apocynin prevented HG + PA and CER incubation induced Nppb and Myh7 pro-hypertrophic gene expression, ROS production and apoptosis in H9c2 cells. Furthermore, cardiomyocyte-specific ASMase knockout (ASMase(Myh6KO)) restored HFD-induced cardiac dysfunction, remodeling, and apoptosis, whereas NOX4 protein expression was downregulated.ConclusionsThese results demonstrated that HFD-mediated activation of cardiomyocyte ASMase could increase NOX4 expression, which may stimulate oxidative stress, apoptosis, and then cause metabolic cardiomyopathy.

Automated summary

This study found that high-fat diet leads to activation of cardiomyocyte ASMase, which increases NOX4 expression and thereby increases oxidative stress and apoptosis, ultimately causing metabolic cardiomyopathy.