Protective effects of Ping-Lv-Mixture (PLM), a medicinal formula on arrhythmias induced by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion

Ping-Lv-Mixture (PLM) is a Chinese medicinal formula. The present study aimed to determine the effects of PLM on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) induced arrhythmias in rats. Arrhythmia model was established by occlusion of the left arterial descending coronary artery and thereafter reperfusion. A lead II electrocardiogram was monitored throughout the experiment. The results showed that pretreatment of PLM to MI/R rats significantly reduced the incidence and duration of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. On induction of MI/R, the activities of creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase were increased in vehicle group. PLM (0.04–1.00 g/kg) administration prevented the increase of these enzymes. Moreover, a significant increase of myocardium superoxide dismutase and decrease of malondialdehyde contents were observed in rats of PLM groups. On the other hand, the expressions of platelet activating factor (PAF) receptor mRNA was down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner in the PLM-treated groups by RT-PCR. Thus, it can be concluded that pretreatment with PLM inhibited lipid peroxidation in rats through suppressing the expression of PAF receptor, which may contribute to its preventive effect on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion induced arrhythmias.