Effects of N-acetylcysteine on prevention of left ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial infarction

Objective:To explore effects of N-acetylcysteine(NAC) on the prevention of left ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial infarction(AMI) in SD rats. Method:AMI were conducted by ligating left coronary artery in female SD rats.Five days after ligation of the coronary artery,38 survival rats were randomized into treatment group(NAC 200 mg·kg-1·d-1,n=19) and control group(equal NS,n=19) for 4 weeks.After the completion of treatment,hemodynamic studies were performed.The heart of rats was fixed and analyzed pathologically.Matrix metalloproteinases(MMP)-2 and MMP-9 were detected by immunohistochemical analysis in noninfarcted myocardium. Result:Compared with control group,left ventricular(LV) relative weight(LVRW) and LV end diastolic pressure(LVEDP) were decreased in treatment group 4 weeks after NAC intervention(P0.05),with ±dp/dtmax increased markedly(P0.05);whereas MMP-2 and MMP-9 reduced significantly(P0.05). Conclusion:NAC has potential of improving left ventricular remodeling after AMI,partially by reducing both MMP-9 and MMP-2 expressions.