ABSTRACT
Objective: To observe the improvement effect of panax notoginseng saponins on the cardiac function of the rats with chronic heart failure (CHF), and to investigate the possible mechanism. Methods: Abdominal aortic constriction was used to establish the CHF rat models. Sixty model rats were randomly divided into model group, positive control group, low, medium and high doses of panax notoginseng saponins groups ( n= 12). Another 12 rats were taken as sham operation group. Color floppier ultrasound was used to detect the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD)» left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), left ventricular posterior wall diastolic thickness (LVPWD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), cardiac output (CO) , left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), maximal rate of increase of left ventricular pressure (+dp/dt max) and maximal rate of decrease of left ventricular pressure ( dp/dt max) of the rats in various groups∗ HE staining was used to observe the pathomorphology of myocardium tissue of the rats in various groups∗ TUNEL method was used to detect the apoptotic rates of cadiomyocytes of the rats in various groups∗ and Western blotting method was used to detect the expression levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), phosphorylation ERK (p-ERK), c-Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK), phosphorylation JNK (p-JNK), p38, and p-p38 proteins in myocardium tissue of the rats in various groups. ELISA was used to determine the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) of the rats in various groups. Results: Compared with sham operation group, the LVEDI), LVESD, LVPWD, LVEDP and dp/dt max of the rats in model group were significantly increased (P