Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of Fuyu Decoction on ventricular remodeling and its association with AMPK/mTOR pathway-mediated autophagy in rats with heart failure. Methods Thirty male Wistar rat models of heart failure induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery were divided into model group, Fuyu Decoction treatment group, Fuyu Decoction treatment +AMPK agonist group (n=10), with another 10 rats receiving sham operation as the Sham group. After 8 weeks of drug intervention, the changes of ventricular function and ventricular remodeling indexs of the rats were assessed. TTC staining was used to detect the myocardial infarction area, and HE and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological changes in the myocardial tissue. Western blotting was performed to detect the protein expressions of p-AMPK, p-mTOR, LC3-II, Beclin1 and p62 in the myocardial tissue. Results Compared with the sham-operated rats, the rat models of heart failure showed significantly increased left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (P<0.01), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS), and decreased spherical index (SI) were (P<0.01). The rat models also showed increased myocardial infarction area, obvious myocardial pathologies and fibrosis, increased apoptosis rate of the cardiomyocytes, enhanced myocardial expressions of p-AMPK, LC3-II/LC3-I and Beclin1 (P<0.01), and reduced expressions of p-mTOR and p62 (P<0.01). Fuyu Decoction treatment significantly ameliorated these changes in the rat models (all P<0.01), but its effects were obviously blocked by treatment with EX229. Conclusion Fuyu Decoction can improve ventricular remodeling in rats with heart failure by inhibiting AMPK/mTOR signaling-mediated autophagy in the cardiomyocytes.

Key words: Fuyu Decoction; heart failure; ventricular remodeling; autophagy; AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway