Effected of sevoflurane pretreatment on myocardial Bcl-2 and Bax gene expression during ischemia/reperfusion in rats

Objective To investigate the effects of pretreatment with sevoflurane on myocardial Bcl-2 and Bax gene expression during ischemia-reperfusion in rats.Methods 24 SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups with 8 animals in each group:sham operation group(group C); ischemia-reperfusion group(group IR),sevoflurane group(group S).In group IR animals were subjected to 3 h of ischemia by 3 h reperfusion.In group S animals inhales 2%sevoflurane for 30 min followed by 15 min of wash-out before IR.In group C animals underwent no I/R.Myocardium was obtained from marginal zone of ischemic area.The mRNA and protein expression of Bcl-2 and Bax gene were detemined by RT-PCR and western-blot.Results The expression of mRNA and protein expression of Bcl-2 were upregulated in group S and group IR compared with that in group C.The expression of mRNA and protein expression of Bax were down-regulated in group S and group IR.The expression of Bcl-2 gene in group S was higher than tha t in group IR While the expression of Bax gene was lower.Conclusion Sevoflurane pretreatment inhibits myocyte apoptosis in IR myocardium partly by modulation of expression of Bcl-2 and Bax genes.