Effect of Berberine on PPARα/NO Activation in High Glucose- and Insulin-Induced Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy

Figure 2

Representative photomicrographs of primary neonatal cardiomyocytes. Stimulation with HGI (25.5 mmol/L glucose and 0.1 μmol/L insulin) for 48 h caused significant hypertrophy (b), compared with the control group (a). Treatment with fenofibrate (0.3 μmol/L) (c), L-arginine (100 μmol/L) (e), or berberine (3 μmol/L) (g) inhibited cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by HGI. The inhibitory effects of fenofibrate and berberine were completely blocked by cotreatment with MK886, a selective PPARα antagonist (d, h) and the inhibitory effect of L-arginine was completely blocked by cotreatment with L-NAME, a NOS inhibitor (f). However, the inhibitory effect of berberine was only partially blocked by L-NAME (i). “+” or “−”: treatment with or without relevant reagent.