Ginsenoside Rg3 Improves Cardiac Function after Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion via Attenuating Apoptosis and Inflammation

Objectives . Ginsenoside Rg3 is one of the ginsenosides which are the main constituents isolated from Panax ginseng . Previous study demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg3 had a protective effect against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion‐ (I/R‐) induced injury. Objective . This study was designed to evaluate the effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on cardiac function impairment induced by myocardial I/R in rats. Methods . Sprague‐Dawley rats were subjected to myocardial I/R. Echocardiographic and hemodynamic parameters and histopathological examination were carried out. The expressions of P53, Bcl‐2, Bax, and cleaved caspase‐3 and the levels of TNF‐ α and IL‐1 β in the left ventricles were measured. Results . Ginsenoside Rg3 increased a left ventricular fractional shortening and left ventricular ejection fraction. Treatment with ginsenoside Rg3 also alleviated increases of left ventricular end diastolic pressure and decreases of left ventricular systolic pressure and ±dp/dt in myocardial I/R‐rats. Ginsenoside Rg3 decreased apoptosis cells through inhibiting the activation of caspase‐3. Ginsenoside Rg3 also caused significant reductions of the contents of TNF‐ α and IL‐1 β in left ventricles of myocardial I/R‐rats. Conclusion . The findings suggested that ginsenoside Rg3 possessed the effect of improving myocardial I/R‐induced cardiac function impairment and that the mechanism of pharmacological action of ginsenoside Rg3 was related to its properties of antiapoptosis and anti‐inflammation.