Protective Effects of Shen-Yuan-Dan, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, against Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion InjuryIn VivoandIn Vitro
Objectives.The study was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of Shen-Yuan-Dan (SYD) pharmacological postconditioning on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.Methods.In thein vivoexperiment, myocardial injury markers and histopathology staining were examined. In thein vitroexperiment, cell viability and cell apoptosis were, respectively, detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays and Hoechst 33342 fluorochrome staining. The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were determined by immunocytochemistry assay.Results.Both low and high doses of SYD protected myocardium against I/R injury in rat model by reducing lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and attenuating histopathology injury. Meanwhile, in thein vitroexperiment, SYD promoted cell viability and inhibited the cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The level of Bcl-2 protein was restored to the normal level by SYD pharmacological postconditioning. In contrast, the Bax protein level was markedly reduced by SYD pharmacological postconditioning. These effects of SYD were inhibited by LY294002.Conclusions.The results of this study suggested that SYD pharmacological postconditioning has protective effects against myocardial I/R injury in bothin vivoandin vitromodels, which are related to activating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) pathway.