Protective effect of betaine on changes in the levels of membrane-bound ATPase activity and mineral status in experimentally induced myocardial infarction in Wistar rats.

Cardiovascular diseases are emerging as a major public health problem in most parts of the world even in developing countries still afflicted by infectious diseases, undernutrition, and other illnesses related to poverty. In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of betaine, a potent lipotropic molecule, on changes in the levels of membrane-bound ATPase activities, lipid peroxidation, sulfhydryl activities, and mineral status in isoprenaline-induced myocardial infarction in Wistar rats, an animal model of myocardial infarction in man. Oral administration of betaine (250 mg/kg body weight/day for a period of 30 days) significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the isoprenaline-induced abnormalities noted in the levels of sodium, potassium, and calcium in plasma and heart tissue. Pretreatment with betaine significantly attenuated isoprenaline-induced membrane-bound ATPase depletion in the heart tissue and preserved the myocardial membrane-bound ATPase activities at levels comparable to that of control rats. Oral administration of betaine significantly attenuated the isoprenaline-altered sulfhydryl groups in the heart tissue and preserved the myocardial sulfhydryl activities at levels comparable to that of control rats. It also significantly counteracted the isoprenaline-mediated lipid peroxidation and maintained the level at near normal. In the results of the present study, betaine administration significantly prevented the isoprenaline-induced alterations in the activities of membrane-bound ATPases, lipid peroxides, myocardial sulfhydryl levels, and maintained the mineral status at near normal.