RESUMEN
BACKGROUND:Exendin can regulate blood glucose, blood lipid and blood pressure, exert anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative stress effects, improve myocardial infarction and heart failure, and protect heart vessels. However, the effect on the apoptosis of cardiac muscle cels after ischemia/reperfusion injury remains unclear. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of Exendin-4 pretreatment on the cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in rats with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. METHODS:The myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury model was established in rats and then received Exendin-4 pretreatment. Ischemia/reperfusion group and sham operation group were set. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Immunohistochemical staining, TUNEL and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction results showed that Bcl-2 protein and mRNA expression levels in the Exendin-4 group were significantly increased (P < 0.05), while Bax protein and mRNA expression levels were significantly decreased compared with ischemia/reperfusion group (P < 0.05). In addition, apoptosis index was more significantly decreased in the Exendin-4 group than in the ischemia/reperfusion group (P < 0.05). Exendin-4 can protect rat heart muscle against ischemia/reperfusion injury and effectively inhibit the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes, and the underlying mechanism is mediated by up-regulating Bcl-2 expression and down-regulating Bax expression.