Cardioprotective effect of the polysaccharide from Ophiopogon japonicus on isoproterenol-induced myocardial ischemia in rats.

The polysaccharide (OJP1), extracted from the root of Ophiopogon japonicus, is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine used to treat cardiovascular diseases. The present study was set up to investigate the cardioprotective effect of OJP1 on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial ischemia injury in rats. Results showed that pretreatment with OJP1 (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) significantly reduced ISO-induced ST-segment elevation and the heart index, attenuated the levels of marker enzymes (AST, LDH, CK and CK-MB), along with a significantly enhanced the activities of ATPases. Moreover, pretreatment with OJP1 not only enhanced the activities of SOD, GPx and CAT in serum and myocardium, but also decreased the level of MDA. The biochemical and histopathological analysis also showed that OJP1 can alleviate the myocardial injury induced by ISO. Taken together, our results indicated that oral administration of OJP1 offered significant cardioprotective effect against the damage induced by ISO through enhancement of endogenous antioxidants.