Diosmetin inhibits apoptosis and activates AMPK‐induced autophagy in myocardial damage under hypoxia environment

Abstract Inhibition of hypoxia‐induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis is considered as an important treatment method for ischemic heart diseases, but related drugs are still insufficient. The present study aims to explore the protective function and mechanism of the key Chinese medicine monomer diosmetin (DIOS) on the injury of cardiomyocytes induced by hypoxia. Here, AC16 and HCM‐a cells were treated with 40 μM of DIOS under hypoxic environment and a hypoxic rat model was built to study the role of DIOS. The viability and autophagy of cardiomyocytes were increased, but the apoptosis of cells was suppressed by 40 μM DIOS, under hypoxic environment. Intriguingly, 10 mM 3‐methyladenine, an inhibitor of autophagy, reversed the effect of DIOS on autophagy and apoptosis of the cardiomyocytes under hypoxia. Furthermore, DIOS induced AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and Compound C (5 μM), an AMPK inhibitor, attenuated the inhibition of DIOS on the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes under hypoxia environment. In isoprenaline‐induced hypoxic rats, it was verified that DIOS inhibited apoptosis, accelerated autophagy, and activated AMPKα pathway in vivo. Our findings indicated that DIOS alleviated hypoxia‐induced myocardial apoptosis via inducing the activation of AMPK‐induced autophagy. In summary, the study suggested that DIOS inhibited the apoptosis and induced the autophagy of hypoxia‐induced cardiomyocytes through AMPK activation.