Betanin reduces the accumulation and cross-links of collagen in high-fructose-fed rat heart through inhibiting non-enzymatic glycation

•Betanin shows benefits on fructose-induced rat diabetic cardiac fibrosis.•Decrease in left ventricle collagen accumulation and cross-linking.•Decrease in glycation products and receptors of advanced glycation products.•Inhibition of oxidative stress and nuclear factor-κB activation.•Betanin also showed anitglycative effect in BSA/fructose system.

We attempted to determine whether betanin (from natural pigments) that has antioxidant properties would be protective against fructose-induced diabetic cardiac fibrosis in Sprague–Dawley rats. Fructose water solution (30%) was accessed freely, and betanin (25 and 100 mg/kg/d) was administered by intra-gastric gavage continuously for 60 d. Rats were sacrificed after overnight fast. The rat blood and left ventricle were collected. In vitro antiglycation assay in bovine serum albumin/fructose system was also performed. In rats treated only with fructose, levels of plasma markers: glucose, insulin, HOMA and glycated hemoglobin rised, left ventricle collagen accumulated and cross-linked, profibrotic factor-transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) protein expression increased, and soluble collagen decreased, compared with those in normal rats, showing fructose induces diabetic cardiac fibrosis. Treatment with betanin antagonized the changes of these parameters, demonstrating the antifibrotic role of betanin in the selected diabetic models. In further mechanistic study, betanin decreased protein glycation indicated by the decreased levels of protein glycation reactive intermediate (methylglyoxal), advanced glycation end product (Nε-(carboxymethyl) lysine) and receptors for advanced glycation end products (AGEs), antagonized oxidative stress and nuclear factor-κB activation elicited by fructose feeding, suggesting inhibition of glycation, oxidative stress and nuclear factor-κB activation may be involved in the antifibrotic mechanisms. Betanin also showed anitglycative effect in BSA/fructose system, which supported that anitglycation was involved in betanin’s protective roles in vivo. Taken together, the potential for using betanin as an auxillary therapy for diabetic cardiomyopathy deserves to be explored further.