Abstract
BACKGROUND: Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is aggravated in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) due to metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and apoptosis. This study investigated the cardioprotective role of alirocumab, a proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor, compared with atorvastatin. METHODS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus was induced in rats by a high-fat/high-sugar diet plus streptozotocin injection, followed by myocardial I/R through transient ligation of the left anterior descending artery. Rats (n = 6/group) were randomized into Control, non-diabetic I/R, T2DM + I/R, T2DM + I/R + alirocumab, and T2DM + I/R + atorvastatin groups. Alirocumab (10 mg/kg/week, intraperitoneal injection) or atorvastatin (10 mg/kg/day, oral) was administered for 21 days. Outcomes included lipid deposition, myocardial fibrosis, metabolic parameters, inflammatory cytokines, apoptosis, and expression of PCSK9, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), and Caspase-3, assessed by histology, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, western blotting, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Non-diabetic I/R rats showed increased lipid accumulation, fibrosis, inflammation, and apoptosis compared with controls, while these effects were markedly exacerbated in T2DM + I/R, confirming the amplifying effect of diabetes. Both alirocumab and atorvastatin significantly reduced lipid accumulation, improved hepatic and renal function, lowered free fatty acids and HbA1c, and restored insulin and C-peptide levels (P < .001). Treatments also decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β [IL-1β], interleukin-6 [IL-6], tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]), inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation, reduced myocardial apoptosis and caspase-3 activity, and downregulated myocardial PCSK9, NLRP3, and caspase-3 expression. Protective effects were comparable between alirocumab and atorvastatin. CONCLUSION: Alirocumab and atorvastatin effectively attenuated myocardial I/R injury in T2DM by modulating lipid metabolism, inflammation, and apoptosis. Diabetes substantially intensified I/R-induced cardiac injury, underscoring the importance of metabolic control in cardioprotection. #Means they contributed equally to the article.