Effects Of Danhong Injection On Cardiac Function And Cardiac Remodeling In Rats After Myocardial Infarction

Objective:To investigate the improvement on cardiac function and cardiac remodeling of Danhong Injection(DHI)in rats after myocardial infarction.Methods:The male Sprague-Dawley rats were underwent coronary artery ligation to establish myocardial infarction models and were randomly divided into three groups:model control group,enalapril group,and DHI group.Enalapril group was used as positive control and sham operation group was negative control.The model control group was a successful model of myocardial infarction,the enalapril group was intragastricly administered enalapril at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg/d for 12 consecutive weeks,and DHI group were given 1 ml/kg/d DHI by gavage for 12 consecutive week.Cardiac function related indexes were measured at the 12 th week after treatment in each group:Heart rate(HR),left ventricular maximum rise velocity(+dp/dtmax),left ventricular systolic pressure(LVSP),left ventricular ejection fraction(EF)and short-axis fractional shortening(FS);hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and Masson’s staining were performed to observe cardiac pathology and morphological changes;RT-PCR was used to detect transforming growth factor(TGF)-β,Metalloproteinase-2,9(MMP-2,MMP-9)gene expression levels in myocardial tissue;Western blot was used to detect TGF-β,MMP-2,MMP-9,Caspase-3 and Bax protein levels in myocardial tissue.Results:1.With the drug therapys for 12 consecutive weeks after myocardial infarction,the HR increased and the EF and LV dp/dtmax of the left ventricle decreased in the model control group compared with the sham group;the DHI group could effectively prevent the adverse effects caused by myocardial infarction,reducing HR and increasing EF,FS,LV dp/dtmax(P <0.05).2.Pathological examination showed that the myocardial cells were slightly swollen,the cells were well-arranged,the degree of proliferation was weakened,andthe infiltration of inflammatory cells was alleviated in DHI and enalapril group.Compared with the model control group,the area of myocardial fibrosis decreased in DHI group(P <0.05).3.Compared with the model control group,DHI can effectively reduce the mRNA and protein expression level of TGF-β,MMP-2 and MMP-9(P<0.05).4.DHI have no effects on the proapoptotic protein gene Caspase-3 and Bax(P>0.05).Conclusion:1.Danhong injection can effectively improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction in rats.2.Danhong injection can effectively weaken cardiac remodeling in rats after myocardial infarction.3.Danhong injection has no effect on the apoptosis gene after myocardial infarction.