Berbamine modulates pro-inflammatory cytokines and alleviates sepsis-induced acute myocardial injury in mice: role of NLRP3/GSDMD signaling axis.

Sepsis represents a potentially lethal condition. In this investigation, we demonstrated that berbamine (BBM), a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid, mitigates systemic inflammation and also alleviates acute cardiac impairment in septic mice. The cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis murine model was developed. BBM at three different doses (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) was administered before CLP surgery, and a standard control received dexamethasone. The effect of BBM pre-treatment on sepsis mitigation was evaluated using echocardiographic, histopathological, biochemical, and molecular methods. The inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress-related parameters were also estimated. The BBM pre-treatment effectively restored the altered parameters of cardiac function caused by sepsis via improving ejection fraction and fractional shortening. The serum levels of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were markedly reduced compared to the CLP group. BBM intervention also improved the sepsis-induced histopathological alterations in the heart. The inflammatory cytokines, specifically TNF-α and IL-18 levels, in the serum and heart tissue homogenates were markedly reduced compared to the CLP group. BBM also interfered with the NLRP3/IL-1β/GSDMD signaling axis in the heart. Furthermore, it improved the impaired antioxidant systems, namely, reduced glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and decreased lipid peroxidation in the heart of septic mice. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of BBM mitigated the sepsis-induced inflammatory response in the mice.