Artesunate Protects against Sepsis-induced Cardiomyopathy

Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SICM) is a life-threatening complication of sepsis characterized by acute and reversible myocardial dysfunction, for which effective targeted therapies remain limited. Artesunate (ART), a well-established first-line antimalarial agent, has attracted increasing attention for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cytoprotective properties. However, its role in SICM has not been fully elucidated. In this study, a murine SICM model was established using lipopolysaccharide to evaluate the effects of ART on animal mortality, cardiac function, histopathology, and biomarkers of myocardial injury. Overall design: C57BL/6 male mice (8 – 12 weeks old), weighing approximately 25 g, were randomly assigned to following groups: normal control (Con), 50 mg/kg artesunate-treated control (ART), LPS-induced SICM model (LPS), SICM model treated with 50 mg/kg artesunate (LPS+ART). Sepsis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). ART was administered intraperitoneally 10 minutes prior to LPS injection and again 4 hours post-injection. Twenty-four hours after LPS administration, cardiac function was assessed and myocardial injury markers were measured to determine the severity of septic cardiomyopathy. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of the control (LPS, n = 5) and treatment (LPS + ART, n = 5) groups was performed by Shanghai Applied Protein Technology Corporation (Shanghai, China).