Experimental Study of Guanxinshutong Capsule on Myocardial Apoptosis by Ischemia-Reperfusion in Rats

Objective:To study the effects of Guanxinshutong capsule(GXST) on myocardial apoptosis by ischemia-reperfusion(I/R)in rats.Methods:Thirty healthy male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: Sham-operated group(10),Model group(10),and Drug group(10).Myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury model was induced by the ligation of left descending anterior coronary artery(LAD)for 30 min,followed by 180 min of reperfusion in Model and Drug groups.From five days before surgery,GXST(1.5g/kg,two times per day,for Drug group) or saline(for Model and Sham-operated groups) was administered via direct gastric gavage.Apoptosis index(AI) of myocardium was detectd by TUNEL method and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-2,Bax were detected with the methods of Western Blot.Results:Compared with sham-operated group,protein expression of Bcl-2 gene in Model group were reduced,and protein expression of Bax gene was increased(all P0.01).compared with Model group,protein expression of Bcl-2 gene in Drug group were significantly increased(P0.05);apoptosis index(AI) and protein expression of Bax gene was decreased(all P0.01);Conclusion:GXST capsule can protect myocardium damage induced by I/R injury.The mechanism of cardioprotection may be associated with inhibiting apoptosis of myocardium,upregulating protein expression of Bel-2 gene and down regulating protein expression of Bax gene.