A new study published in Drug Design, Development and Therapy suggests that cannabidiol (CBD) may help protect the heart from damage caused by the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX) by activating the Hippo signaling pathway.
DOX is widely used to treat cancer but is known for its cardiotoxic effects. While previous research has indicated that CBD may have cardioprotective properties, the mechanisms behind this effect have remained unclear. To investigate, researchers analyzed gene expression data from healthy and DOX-injured myocardial tissues, identifying the Hippo pathway as a key player in DOX-induced heart damage. Molecular docking suggested that CBD interacts with multiple regulators of this pathway.
The team conducted both in vitro and in vivo experiments using H9c2 cardiomyocytes and C57BL/6 mice. Results showed that CBD improved cell viability, reduced oxidative stress, and decreased apoptosis in DOX-exposed heart cells. In mice, CBD mitigated DOX-induced myocardial injury, as confirmed by histological and immunofluorescence analyses. However, when the Hippo pathway was inactivated—either by YAP knockdown or treatment with verteporfin—the cardioprotective effects of CBD were reversed.
These findings indicate that CBD’s ability to protect the heart from chemotherapy-induced damage may be linked to its influence on the Hippo pathway.
“For the first time, we revealed that CBD is likely to reduce DOX-induced myocardial injury by regulating the Hippo signaling pathway”, concludes the study.
