Fucoidan from Sargassum wightii reduces oxidative stress through upregulating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in alloxan-induced diabetic cardiomyopathy rats

Background Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a form of cardiac dysfunction caused by diabetes, increasing heart failure and death. Studies shown that hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress significantly affects heart structure and functional changes during diabetic cardiomyopathy. Fucoidans are sulfated polysaccharide derived from naturally available seaweeds and reported for various biological functions such as antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory. However, the therapeutic potential of Indian seaweeds against DCM remains largely unexplored. Therefore, the current study aimed to work on the cardioprotective effect of extracted fucoidan from Sargassum wightii (SwF) in alloxan-induced DCM. Methods and results Diabetes (DM) was induced with alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg −1 ) dissolved in Nacl (0.9%) overnight–fasted rats. Group III, IV rats were DM induced, followed by treated with SwF (150 mg/kg −1 ) and (300 mg/kg −1 ). Group V and VI were non-diabetic rats and received SwF (150 mg/kg −1 ) and (300 mg/kg −1 ). SwF reduced classical progressive DM complications such as hyperglycemia, polydipsia, polyphagia, and polyurea in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Biochemical analysis showed that SwF decreased blood glucose, cardiac markers enzymes, and lipid peroxidation levels compared to diabetic rats. SwF administration significantly increased Nrf2, HO-1, SOD, Catalase, and NQO1 gene expression. In addition, SwF-treated rats showed reduced heart tissue damage with increased Nrf2 and HO-1 protein expression. Conclusion The current research concludes that targeting oxidative stress with SwF provided an effective role in the prevention of DCM. Thus, fucoidan could be used to develop functional food ingredients for DCM. Graphical abstract