ABSTRACT
This study was designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of the alcoholic extract of the berries of Crataegus oxyacantha (AEC), a medicinal herb, on isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in a rat model. Three groups of Wistar albino rats, each comprising six animals, were selected for this study. Group I rats served as control. Group II rats were given isoproterenol (85 mg/kg body weight) subcutaneously on 59th and 60th days. Group III rats were given AEC (0.5 ml/100 g body weight/day), orally on a daily basis for 60 days, and isoproterenol (85 mg/kg body weight, subcutaneously) was given on 59th and 60th days. On the 61st day, the animals were sacrificed, and marker enzymes like lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) were estimated in serum. In the heart tissue sample, antioxidant status, lipid peroxidation and anti-inflammatory properties of AEC were determined. Isoproterenol significantly increased the release of LDH, CK in serum, decreased the antioxidant status in the heart along with an increase in lipid peroxidation. Nitritive stress and apoptosis were seen in isoproterenol-induced rat heart. Pre-treatment with the AEC for 60 days had a significant effect on all the above factors and maintained near normal status. The study confirms the protective effect of AEC against isoproterenol-induced inflammation and apoptosis-associated MI in rats.
Subject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology , Apoptosis/drug effects , Myocardial Infarction/drug therapy , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Animals , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Catalase/metabolism , Crataegus , Creatine Kinase/blood , Cyclooxygenase 2/genetics , Cyclooxygenase 2/metabolism , Cytochromes c/metabolism , DNA Fragmentation , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Fruit/chemistry , Isoproterenol , L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/blood , Lipid Peroxidation , Male , Mitochondria, Heart/metabolism , Myocardial Infarction/blood , Myocardial Infarction/chemically induced , Myocardium/enzymology , Myocardium/pathology , Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/metabolism , Nitrites/metabolism , Phytotherapy , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Superoxide Dismutase/metabolismABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in the development of atherogenesis and cardiovascular diseases. We explored the prospective effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins in controlling hypercholesterolemia induced oxidative injury and apoptosis in atherogenic animals. METHODS: Four groups of male Wistar rats (250-300 g) were used for the study. Group I served as control and received vehicle (saline) alone, Group II served as the induction group fed with a high-cholesterol diet (rat chow supplemented with 4% cholesterol and 1% cholic acid--CC diet) for 30 days, Group III served as drug control and was treated with grape seed proanthocyanidins (100 mg/kg body weight) orally for 30 days, and Group IV animals were fed with CC diet for 30 days along with grape seed proanthocyanidins (100 mg/kg body weight) orally. RESULTS: CC diet induced an abnormal increase in lipid peroxidation, tissue cholesterol, triglyceride, serum low-density lipoprotein, and very low density lipoprotein, and decreased the high-density lipoprotein concentration. Altered activity of cardiac and serum creatine kinase, accompanied by a decreased cardiac enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant defense system and an increase in the expression of cytochrome c and caspases-3, was observed in CC diet-fed rats. These changes were partially restored in the grape seed proanthocyanidin-treated group. CONCLUSION: Grape seed proanthocyanidins have cardioprotective effects against CC diet-induced hypercholesterolemia via their ability to reduce, directly or indirectly, free radicals in the myocardium.
