Cardioprotective effects of Achillea wilhelmsii on the isolated rat heart in ischemia-reperfusion

Abstract

Context: There are some reports about protective effects of Achillea on the heart.

Objective: We investigated the effect of Achillea wilhelmsii extract on cardiac function during ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in the isolated rat heart.

Materials and methods: 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups; 1: Control group, 2: Control-ischemia (CI) 3: vitamin C (10 mg/kg), 4-6: Extract groups (E 100, E 200 and E 400 mg/kg). The animals received normal saline, vitamin C or A. wilhelmsii extract orally for 4 weeks. At the end of the treatment, the hearts were subjected to in vitro I/R Injury (20 min of global ischemia, followed by 40 min of reperfusion, Langendorff's mode). Heart rate (HR) and left ventricular pressure (LVP) were measured using a pressure transducer connected to a data acquisition system. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) activities in the effluent were measured to determine the myocardial injury degree. The malondialdehyde (MDA), total thiol groups (-SH), superoxide anion dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in myocardial tissue were detected to determine the oxidative stress degree.

Results: Pretreatment with Achillea wilhlemsii significantly decreased the LDH, CK activities, and MDA level, while it increased the LVDP, ±dp/dt_max, rate-pressure product (RPP), SH groups, SOD and CAT activities, and also the coronary artery flow.

Discussion and conclusion: Our findings indicated that Achillea wilhelmsii could provide protection for heart against the I/R injury which may be related to the improvement of myocardial oxidative stress states.

Keywords: Achillea wilhelmsii; Cardiac function; Ischemia–reperfusion; Oxidative stress; Rat.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

Time course of change in Heart rate, left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and rate pressure product (RPP) in control, control ischemia, Vit C and different doses of Achillea wilhelmsii extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg; Ext 100, Ext 200, Ext 400) treated rat groups during ischemia–reperfusion. The data provided are mean ± SEM. +p < 0.05, ++p < 0.01 and +++p < 0.001 compared to control group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 compared to control ischemia group.

Fig. 2

Time course of change in the rate of ventricular pressure development (+dp/dt) and the rate of ventricular pressure decline (−dp/dt) in control, control ischemia, Vit C and different doses of Achillea wilhelmsii extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg; Ext 100, Ext 200, Ext 400) treated rat groups during ischemia–reperfusion. The data provided are mean ± SEM. ++p < 0.01 and +++p < 0.001 compared to control group. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 compared to control ischemia group.

Fig. 3

Time course of change in rate of coronary flow (CF), outflow of LDH and CK enzymes in control, control ischemia, Vit C and different doses of Achillea wilhelmsii extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg; Ext 100, Ext 200, Ext 400) treated rat groups during ischemia–reperfusion. The data provided are mean ± SEM. +p < 0.05, ++p < 0.01 and +++p < 0.001 compared to control group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and **p < 0.01 compared to control ischemia group.

Fig. 4

The level of formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), expressed as nmol MDA/g heart weight and total thiol concentration in the heart tissues of control, control ischemia, Vit C and different doses of Achillea wilhelmsii extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg; Ext 100, Ext 200, Ext 400) treated rat groups. +p < 0.05compared to control group, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 Compared to control ischemia group.

Fig. 5

SOD and CAT enzyme activity values in the heart tissues of control, control ischemia, Vit C and different doses of Achillea wilhelmsii extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg; Ext 100, Ext 200, Ext 400) treated rat groups. +++ p < 0.001 compared to control group, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 Compared to control ischemia group.