Effect of levosimendan on cardiomyocyte apoptosis after coronary microembolization in swine / 中华老年心脑血管病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effect of levosimendan on cardiomyocyte apoptosis after coronary microembolization (CME) in swine,Methods Fifteen healthy swines were randomly divided into sham operation group,CME group and levosimendan treatment group (5 in each group).Their cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography,their cardiomyocyte apoptosis was assyed with TUNEL staining,and Caspase-3 expression was detected by Western blot at 12 h after operation.Results The LVEF was lower,the left ventricular minor axis was shorter and the cardiac output volume was smaller while the LVEDD was longer in CME group than sham operation group (P＜0.05).The cardiac function was significantly better in CME group than in sham operation group (P＜0.05).The cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate and Caspase-3 expression level were significantly higher in CME group than in sham operation group (P＜0.05).The cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate was significantly higher while the Caspase-3 expression level was significantly lower in levosimendan treatment group than in CME group (6.820％±-1.974 ％ vs 10.558％±2.425％,P＜0.05).Conclusion Pretreatment with levosimendan can effecively reduce the cardiomyocyte apoptosis and improve the cardiac function after CME by inhibiting the Caspase-3 expression in cardiomyocytes.