RESUMEN
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading major health problem with increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. The present study investigates isoproterenol (ISO) induced MI and the beneficial role of Aegle marmelos fruit extract (AMFE) in rats. Our results indicated the significant augmentation of plasma nitric oxide (NOx) levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), homocysteine, apolipoprotein B (apo-B), cardiac tissue lipid peroxidation and liver 3-hydroxy-3 methyl glutaryl CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase activity in ISO treated rats (85mg/kg b.wt) with a concomitant decrease in plasma apolipoprotein A1 (apo-A), lipase activity, paraoxonase-1 activity and cardiac tissue taurine levels when compared with controls. However, pretreatment of ISO administered rats with AMFE (150mg/kg b.wt/day for 45 days) markedly brought the observed alterations toward near normal level indicating its protective role against MI. Further, we have extended our studies to study the interaction of important phytocompounds, marmesin, marmin, umbelliferone and impertonin, present in AMFE with key enzymes, HMG-CoA reductase, iNOS, lipoprotein lipase and paraoxonase using AutoDock4. Molecular docking analysis indicated that HMG-CoA reductase, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and lipoprotein lipase formed a strong enzyme ligand complex with impertonin. While the marmesin showed strong interaction with paraoxonase enzyme. In conclusion, our results suggest that AMFE acts as a strong protective agent against ISO-induced MI, and the bioactive compounds are responsible for this protective action which is confirmed by molecular docking studies.