RESUMO
Objective To investigate the effects of Puerarin on myocardial tissue injury and inflammatory response in severely burned rats and its mechanism. Methods The model rats with 30％ TBSA (three degree) were made by bathing in 92℃ water for 18s; Sham burn group, model control group, puerarin 50, 100, 200, 400mg /kg treated groups were set. The histopathological changes of myocardial tissue were observed. The content of myocardial enzymes and cTnT in serum was determined. The activity of antioxidase and the content of MDA in myocardial tissue was measured. The apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was observed. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins was determined. The level of inflammatory cytokines in serum was determined. Results Compared with model control group, the histopathological changes of puerarin treated groups were significantly improved, especially the 200mg /kg group. The content of AST, CPK, LDH, cTnT in serum of Puerarin(100, 200, 400mg /kg) treated groups were significantly decreased. The activity of SOD, CAT, MPO were significantly increased and the content of MDA was significantly decreased. The apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was significantly improved, and the AI was significantly decreased. The expression of cleaved caspase-3, Bax were significantly down-regulated and the Bcl-2 was significantly up-regulated, the Bcl-2 /Bax was significantly increased. The levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 in serum were significantly decreased, the level of IL-1 in serum of puerarin 200mg /kg treated group was significantly decreased and the IL-10 was significantly increased. All of the differences above were significant(P ＜ 0. 05). Conclusion Puerarin has inhibitive effects on myocardial tissue injury and inflammatory responses in severely burned rats, which was perhaps related to its effects of improving antioxidant enzyme activity, altering the expression of apoptosis-related proteins and affecting the content of inflammatory cytokines.