ABSTRACT
The Bax, cyt-c and caspase-3 proteins play an important role in regulating the myocardial apoptosis. Although very little is known about the specific signal pathways modulated by Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), it seems advisable to suppose that GBE-induced antiapoptotic effect might be attributed to the regulation of the expression of these proteins. Our aim was to investigate whether GBE could attenuate ischemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis in cardiac myocytes and its potential mechanisms. In the myocardium ischemia reperfusion (IR) rat model, treatment of GBE (400 mg/kg) significantly decreased the cardiomyocyte cell apoptosis and myocardium infarction. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that GBE significantly inhibited I/R-induced increase of myocardial Bax, caspase-3, and cyt-c proteins expression. Western blot analysis confirmed results of immunohistochemical analysis. It is most likely that multiple pathways are involved in IR-induced apoptosis in rat myocardium cells. Therefore, these results demonstrate that GBE exhibits significant protective effect against myocardial I/R injury in rat heart, which is related to down-regulate Bax, cyt-c and caspase-3. Bcl-2 overexpression might prevent IR-induced apoptosis by inhibiting cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and block activation of caspase-3.
