Butyrate and Propionate, Short Chain Fatty Acids, Attenuate Myocardial Damages by Inhibition of Apoptosis in a Rat Model of Ischemia-reperfusion
Lim, SunHa; Song, KSik; Lee, J
Dietary fiber (DF) and resistant starch (RS) in the grains
of cereals are fermented into short chain fatty acids (SCFA), including butyrate, propionate, and
acetate, in the large intestine, and are absorbed into the blood. Effectiveness of SCFA in
reducing myocardial damage was evaluated in a rat model of 30 min ischemia and 3 h reperfusion
with administration of SCFA (10 mg/kg) by peritoneal injection 1 h before occlusion. Butyrate and
propionate significantly attenuated infarct size, an indicator of myocardial damage, when
assessed by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining, reduced apoptosis in terminal
deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining, and increased Bcl-2/Bax
ratio, a determinant of cell survival in the apoptotic pathway. In addition, butyrate
significantly attenuated the level of caspase-3, an executioner caspase, in an
immunohistochemical assay. These results demonstrate that butyrate and propionate, produced by
fermentation of DF and RS in the large intestine, could prevent myocardial infarction by
attenuating apoptosis, possibly through inhibition of histone deacetylases. Thus, varieties of
cereals or diets that produce a large amount of butyrate and propionate by fermentation could be
beneficial in reducing myocardial infarction.