Gemfibrozil mitigates caspase-11-driven myocardial pyroptosis in ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice

The size of the infarct area following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a critical prognostic factor. Caspase-11-dependent pyroptosis has been implicated as a key mechanism driving cardiomyocyte death after AMI. However, no therapeutic agents have been developed to inhibit myocardial cell death...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tetsuro Marunouchi, Mayu Kyono, Naoko Kikuchi, Kouichi Tanonaka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277297612500011X
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The size of the infarct area following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a critical prognostic factor. Caspase-11-dependent pyroptosis has been implicated as a key mechanism driving cardiomyocyte death after AMI. However, no therapeutic agents have been developed to inhibit myocardial cell death by targeting caspase-11. This study investigates the effects of gemfibrozil, a potential caspase-11 inhibitor, on ischemia/reperfusion-induced myocardial pyroptosis in mice. To model AMI, the left coronary artery of C57BL/6 N mice was ligated for 1 h, followed by reperfusion. Levels of cleaved caspase-11 and the N-terminal fragment of gasdermin D (GSDMD-N) in ischemic myocardial tissue increased progressively over time after ischemia/reperfusion. Gemfibrozil treatment during reperfusion significantly attenuated these increases in cleaved caspase-11 and GSDMD-N levels. Moreover, gemfibrozil reduced the extent of myocardial infarct size during reperfusion. In cultured cardiomyocytes isolated from adult mice, hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced increases in caspase-11 and GSDMD cleavage were similarly mitigated by gemfibrozil, which concurrently prevented necrotic cell death. These findings demonstrate the involvement of caspase-11-dependent pyroptosis in myocardial cell death following ischemia/reperfusion and suggest that gemfibrozil holds promise as a therapeutic agent for reducing myocardial infarct size after AMI.
ISSN:2772-9761