Cardioprotective Effects of Saponins from Rhizoma Panacis Majoris on Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury via Scavenging Excessive Reactive Oxygen Species

Abstract

Saponins from Rhizoma Panacis Majoris (SRPM), the bioactive component inRhizoma Panacis Majoris, were reported to possess protective effects on myocardial injury, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study was performed to investigate the protective effects and possible mechanism of SRPM on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in vivo. Cardioprotective effects of SPRM in I/R rats was evaluated by hemodynamic, infarct size, biochemical values, histopathological observations, antioxidative relative gene expressions; And the antioxidant activity of SPRM was studied using DPPH scavenging and β-carotene/linoleic acid tests. In the study, we found that SRPM possessed significant free radical-scavenging activity and considerable antioxidant activity, and significantly improved cardiac function, serum biochemical index and antioxidation level, decreased infarct size, reversed the down-regulated mRNA expressions of the SOD1, SOD2, SOD3 in I/R rats. The studies demonstrated that oxidative stress caused the overgeneration and accumulation of ROS, which was central of myocardial I/R injury. SPRM exerted beneficially cardioprotective effects on myocardial I/R injury, mainly scavenging oxidative stress-triggered overgeneration and accumulation of ROS, alleviating myocardial I/R injury and apoptotic cell death.