Protective roles of cornuside in acute myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury in rats

Cornuside is a secoiridoid glucoside isolated from the fruit of Cornus officinalis SIEB. et ZUCC. In this study, we investigated the anti-myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury effects of cornuside in vivo and elucidated the potential mechanism. Rat models of myocardial I/R were induced by coronary occlusion followed by reperfusion or by Isoproterenol (ISO), treatment of rats with cornuside (20 and 40 mg/kg, i.v.) protected the animals from myocardial I/R injury as indicated by a decrease in infarct volume, improvement in hemodynamics and reduction of myocardial damage severity. Treatment with cornuside also attenuated polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) infiltration, decreased myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the heart, lowered serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors and reduced phosphorylated IκB-α and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) levels in the heart. Additionally, cornuside was shown to have remarkable antioxidant activity and inhibited ISO-induced myocardial cell necrosis. Thus, cornuside appeared to protect the rat from myocardial I/R injury by acting as an anti-inflammatory agent. These findings suggested that cornuside may be used therapeutically in the setting of myocardial I/R where inflammation and oxidant injury are prominent.