Chlorogenic acid targets STING to alleviate pressure overload-induced heart failure and myocardial fibrosis

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a leading global cause of mortality, characterized by complex pathological changes such as myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis, and inflammation. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a key component of Simiao Yong'an Decoction, improves cardiac function and exerts antifibrotic effects, but its mechanism remains unclear. Using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) mice, we found CGA significantly increased left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) in TAC mice at 8 weeks. At 7 days post-TAC, flow cytometry showed CGA reduced cardiac neutrophils, circulating monocytes, patrolling monocytes, total macrophages, and CCR2⁺ macrophages. Echocardiography, Masson staining, and Western blot (WB) demonstrated CGA, CCR2 antagonist(RS504393), or their combination improved EF and decreased myocardial collagenⅠ/Ⅲ at 8 weeks, with the combination superior to CGA alone in reducing collagen III. HE staining/immunofluorescence revealed CGA reduced CD45⁺ cell and F4/80⁺ macrophage infiltration in 7-day TAC hearts, with Vimentin⁺ fibroblast-macrophage interactions observed. Molecular docking and SPR confirmed CGA stably bound STING (binding energy: -9.8 kcal/mol; KD: 35.87 μM). CGA downregulated STING, p-TBK, IFN-β, NF-κB p65, MCP-1, IL-1β, IL-18, GSDMD, and N-GSDMD in 7-day TAC hearts, and reduced ISO-induced STING, IFN-α/β, TNF-α mRNA/protein levels in H9C2 cells, reversing STING agonist-induced upregulation. CONCLUSION: CGA improves cardiac function and reduces fibrosis in TAC mice by specifically inhibiting STING, suppressing NF-κB p65 activation and pyroptosis, and reducing CCR2⁺ macrophage recruitment. This study supports targeting CCR2⁺ macrophages for CHF and identifies CGA as an effective STING inhibitor.