RESUMEN
ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of modified Shenhong Tongluo prescription on cell apoptosis in rats with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury （MIRI）. MethodSixty Sprague-Dawley （SD） rats were randomly divided into a blank group， a model group， low-， medium-， and high-dose groups of modified Shenhong Tongluo prescription， and a simvastatin group. Except for the blank group， a rat model of MIRI was prepared by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Starting from the first day after successful modeling， the blank group （1.0 mL·kg-1 physiological saline）， model group （1.0 mL·kg-1 physiological saline）， low-， medium-， and high-dose groups of modified Shenhong Tongluo prescription （1.031， 2.063， and 4.126 g·kg-1 Shenhong Tongluo prescriptiona standard concentrate）， and simvastatin group （0.71 mg·kg-1 simvastatin） were orally administered once daily for 2 weeks. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes of cardiomyocytes. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the levels of serum creatine kinase isoenzyme （CK-MB）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）. TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling（TUNEL） staining was used to detect the apoptosis rate of rat cardiomyocytes. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， and caspase-3. ResultCompared with the blank group， in the model group， HE staining showed disturbed arrangement of cardiomyocytes， incomplete fibers， focal necrosis of cardiomyocytes， and inflammatory cell infiltration； serum CK-MB， IL-6， and TNF-α levels were significantly increased （P<0.05）； apoptosis rate of cardiomyocytes was significantly increased （P<0.01）， with significantly increased expression levels of Bax and Caspase-3 proteins， and significantly decreased Bcl-2 expression （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the low-， medium-， and high-dose groups of modified Shenhong Tongluo prescription significantly reduced CK-MB， IL-6， and TNF-α levels （P<0.05）， significantly downregulated cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate （P<0.05）， significantly decreased Bax and Caspase-3 proteins， and significantly increased Bcl-2 expression levels （P<0.01）. In the modified Shenhong Tongluo prescription groups， the expression levels of Bax and Caspase-3 proteins significantly decreased with increasing dosage， while the expression level of Bcl-2 significantly increased with increasing dosage of modified Shenhong Tongluo prescription （P<0.05）. ConclusionShenhong Tongluo prescription can alleviate myocardial tissue pathological damage and reduce myocardial cell apoptosis， possibly by inhibiting Caspase-3 and Bax expression and promoting Bcl-2 expression.