Puerarin protects against heart failure induced by pressure overload through mitigation of ferroptosis

Heart failure (HF) is the end stage of cardiovascular disease and is characterized by the loss of myocytes caused by cell death. Puerarin has been found to improve HF clinically, and animal study findings have confirmed its anti-cell-death properties. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, especially with respect to the impact on ferroptosis, a newly defined mechanism of iron-dependent non-apoptotic cell death in HF. Here, ferroptosis-like cell death was observed in erastin- or isoprenaline (ISO)-treated H9c2 myocytes in vitro and in rats with aortic banding inducing HF, characterized by reduced cell viability with increased lipid peroxidation and labile iron pool. Interestingly, the increased iron overload and lipid peroxidation observed in either rats with HF or H9c2 cells incubated with ISO were significantly blocked by puerarin administration. These results provide compelling evidence that puerarin plays a role in inhibiting myocyte loss during HF, partly through ferroptosis mitigation, suggesting a new mechanism of puerarin as a potential therapy for HF.