Protective Effects of Millettia Pulchra Flavonoids on Myocardial Ischemia In Vitro and In Vivo

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that Millettia pulchra flavonoids (MPF) exhibit protective effects on myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MI/RI) in isolated rat hearts and show anti-oxidative, anti-hypoxic and anti-stress properties. METHODS: In this study, the cardioprotective effects of MPF on myocardial ischemia and its underlying mechanisms were investigated by a hypoxia/ reoxygenation (H/R) injury model in vitro and a rat MI/RI model in vivo. RESULTS: We found that the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activities were decreased in the MPF pretreatment group, whereas the activities of constructional nitric oxide synthase (cNOS), total nitric oxide synthase (tNOS), Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase were significantly increased. In addition, the cardiocytes were denser in the MPF groups than in the control group. The mortality rate and apoptosis rate of cardiocytes were significantly decreased. Furthermore, pretreatment with MPF in vivo significantly improved the hemodynamics, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) abundance, increased the activities of plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and decreased the expression of the Bax protein and ratio Bax/Bc1-2 ration. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that MPF is an attractive protective substance in myocardial ischemia due to its negative effects on heart rate and ionotropy, reduction of myocardial oxidative damage and modulation of gene expression associated with apoptosis.