Epigenetic modulation of cardioprotection with plant compounds

Early reperfusion of occluded coronary arteries leads to additional myocardial injury for which effective therapy is a desirable achievement. Novel noninvasive strategies to reduce myocardial infarction size, to preserve cardiac function and to improve clinical outcomes in infarcted patients are still required. Over the past two decades, researchers have studied the ability of plant compounds to prevent or reverse the cardiac remodeling in translational models of myocardial infarction and heart failure. We have demonstrated that it is possible to increase the expression of cardioprotective factors (i.e.: VEGF, HGF, PIM-1) by inducing the acetylation of histone H4 with intramyocardial delivery of natural molecules (i.e: hyaluronan mixed ester of butyric and retinoic acid). Recently, we have also observed that lower dose of plant compounds with antioxidant property (i.e.: (1-3)beta-D- glucan) have the ability to promote angiogenesis in the presence of increased histone H4 acetylation, yet the cardiomyocyte survival is induced in an epigenetically independent manner. The same compounds have inhibitory effects on the cardiac cell viability and function at higher dose. The results from animal studies have been promising and suggest the pleiotropic effect of plant molecules to mediate cardioprotection in a dose-dependent manner. Although some mechanisms have been identified for the cardioprotective effect of selected plant compounds, there is a need for further research to identify the specific molecular mechanism of epigenetic cardioprotection of ischemic heart by bioactive compounds contained in foods of plant origin.