Taurine effects on the apoptosis of ischemia-injured myocardial cells and on the expression changes of Fas/FasL genes

Objective To investigate the changes of apoptosis of ischemia-injured myocardial cells and the ex-pression of Fas/FasL genes in rat and the effects of taurine on them.Methods Rat models with myocardial ischemia were established by occluding left coronary artery(LCA).Transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL)and immuno-histochemical staining were used respectively to detect the changes of apoptosis and protein expression of Fas/FasL genes;mRNA expression of Fas gene was evaluated by RT-PCR analysis.Results Apoptosis index,positive index of Fas protein,and mRNA expression of Fas gene were all increased in the rat' s ischemic myocardium,the level of myocardial MDA,SOD increased,but Ca 2+ -ATPase activity decreased.Taurine can significantly decresae apoptosis index,positive index of Fas protein,mRNA expression of Fas gene,and MDA content in the ischemic myocardium,but increase Ca 2+ -ATPase activ-ity.Conclusion Taurine exerts a good antagonist action on the apoptosis of ischemia-injured myocardial cells and the increased expression of Fas/FasL expression.