Restoration of blood flow to ischemic myocardium results in the ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury. This study was undertaken to investigate the potential role of endogenous testosterone in the regional ischemia reperfusion and apoptosis of the male rat hearts. Rats underwent surgical ligation of LAD and subjected to ischemia for 25 min and reperfusion for 40 min, and 2nd underwent surgical castration, left 3wks for recovery, then underwent surgical LAD ligation. Blood samples were collected from the heart for measurement of plasma level of cardiac troponin I (cTn-I). The hearts were harvested, and divided into 3 sections, the 1st for the measurement of cardiac apoptosis level, the 2nd homogenized for measurement of tissue (TNF-α, IL1-β, ICAM-1) and the 3rdwas fixed in 10% formalin for histological examination. Compared with the sham group, levels of tissue TNF-α & IL-1β, ICAM-1 and apoptosis; plasma cTn-I were increased (P<0.05) in the control group, all control group rats showed significant myocardial injury (P<0.05) compared with the sham group. Castration significantly counteracts the increase in myocardial levels of TNF-α, IL-1, ICAM-1, plasma cTn-I and apoptosis (P<0.05). Histological analysis revealed that castration markedly reduced (P<0.05) the severity of the heart injury in the rats underwent the regional ischemia-reperfusion procedure. This study reveals that surgical castration may ameliorate regional I/R injury and apoptosis in the ischemic heart in rats.
Cardioprotection of benzolamide in a regional ischemia model: Role of eNOS/NO
