Effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza water-extract on apoptosis of myocardial cells in rats with diabetes mellitus

HUANG Donghui; LI Guanghong; HAN Jingjing; HOU Lijun

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2016.14.003

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza water-extract on apoptosis of myocardial cells in rats with diabetes mellitus (DM).Methods Forty-eight male Wistar rats were fed with high-glucose and high-fat diet and then were injected with streptozotocin (35 mg/kg)to establish diabetes mellitus (DM)models.After that,all model rats were randomly divided into the DM group (DM group),Western medicine group (WD group),low-dose (LD)and high-dose (HD)Chinese medicine groups,12 rats in each group.Meanwhile,another 12 healthy rats were selected as the nor-mal control group (NC group).After modeling,LD and HD groups were given 15 g/(kg·d)and 30 g/(kg·d)Salvia miltiorrhiza water-extract through intragastric administration,WD group was given 17.5 mg/(kg·d)irbesartan,and DM group was treated with the same dose of normal saline for 4 weeks.On week 4 after modeling,the expression of apoptosis-related protein (Bcl-2),Bcl-2-related protein (Bax)and Bnip-3 was detected by Western blotting.Results The apoptosis of myocardial cells in the DM group was more significant,the apoptosis of the WD and LD groups alleviated as compared with that of the DM group,and the pathological manifestations of the HD group was better than that of the WD and LD group.The Bcl-2 protein expression of the DM group was lower that of the other groups,and the Bcl-2 protein expression of the WD and LD groups was lower than that of the HD group (all P<0.01).Bnip-3 and Bax protein expression of the DM group was higher than that of the other groups,and Bnip-3 and Bax protein expression of the WD and LD groups was higher than that of the HD group (all P<0.01).Conclusion Salvia miltiorrhiza water-extract can alleviate the apoptosis of myo-cardial cells in DM rats,and the mechanism may be related to the increased Bcl-2 protein expression and the decreased Bnip-3 and Bax protein expression.