Effects of Liqustrazin on the Apoptosis in Rats with Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Objective To investigate the protective effects of Liqustrazin on the apoptosis in rats with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.Methods Rat modes with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury were established by occluding left coronary arter(LCA)and followed by release of it with ligation.Fifty rats were divided randomly into control group(sham operated for 24 h),apoptosis group(1 h of ischemia followed by 25 h of reperfusion),and Liqustrazin group(intraperitoneal injection of Liqustrazin 5 mg/kg,10 mg/kg or 15 mg/kg respectively before ischemia followed by 24 h of reperfusion).Terminal deoxynucleotidy transferase-mediatde dUTP fluoescein nick end labeling(TUNEL)and S-P immunohistochemical staining were used respectively to determine the apoptosis and protein expression of Fas/FasL,Caspase-8 and Caspase-3 genes and its activity were detected by Fluorospectrophotometry.Results Apoptosis index,positive index of Fas/FasL and Caspase-8/3 protein expression were all increased in the rat's myocardium of apoptosis group,and the level of Caspase-3 activity increased.Liqustrazin was able to decrease significantly apoptosis index,positive index of Fas/FasL and Caspase-8/3 protein expression,and Caspase-3 activity in the ischemia-reperfusion myocardium.Conclusion Liqustrazin exerts a good antagonist action on the apoptosis of ischemia/reperfusion myocardial cells and signal transduction pathway of Fas death receptor.