• J Ethnopharmacol · Aug 2016

    The protective effect of Herba Cistanches on statin-induced myotoxicity in vitro.

    • Elaine Wat, Chun Fai Ng, Chi Man Koon, Eric Chun Wai Wong, Brian Tomlinson, and Clara Bik San Lau.
    • Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong; State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
    • J Ethnopharmacol. 2016 Aug 22; 190: 68-73.

    Ethnopharmacological RelevanceHerba Cistanches (HC, Cistanche deserticola or Cistanche tubulosa) is a Chinese herb traditionally used for muscle problems. Previous studies demonstrated that HC extract could reduce muscle damage and improve ATP storage in post-exercised rats. However, its effect on statin-induced muscle toxicity has never been investigated.AimThe objective of this study was to determine if the aqueous extract of HC (HCE) could prevent simvastatin-induced toxicity in L6 rat skeletal muscle cells; and whether verbascoside is the major bioactive constituent which contributes to the effects.Materials And MethodsMTT was performed to determine the effects of HCE (0-2000µg/ml) or verbascoside (0-160µM) on simvastatin (10µM)-treated L6 cells. Annexin V-FITC/PI apoptosis assay and Caspase 3 assay were performed to determine the protective role of HCE on simvastatin-induced cell death, and to evaluate if HCE exerted its protective effect through the caspase pathway. ATP production was measured to investigate if HCE could prevent simvastatin-induced reduction in ATP production in vitro.ResultsSimvastatin significantly increased apoptotic cell death in L6 cells. HCE significantly exerted a dose-dependent reduction on simvastatin-induced apoptotic cells, possibly via caspase-3 pathway. Simvastatin reduced the ATP production in L6 cells, which was dose-dependently prevented by HCE. There was only a trend but not significant effect (except at high dose) of verbascoside on the protection of simvastatin-induced muscle toxicity.ConclusionsIn conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time that HCE could exert dose-dependent protective effect on simvastatin-induced toxicity in vitro, which was unlikely due to the presence of verbascoside. Our study suggested the potential use of HC under the situation of simvastatin-induced muscle toxicity.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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