An experimental study of the mechanism of andrographis paniculata nees (APN) in alleviating the Ca(2+)-overloading in the process of myocardial ischemic reperfusion.

The aim of this experiment is to study the mechanism of APN in alleviating the Ca(2+)-overloading in dog model during the process of ischemic reperfusion. In comparison with the sustained ischemic group, the parameters in the ischemic reperfusion group demonstrated: Ca(2+) of ischemic region of myocardial cell increased (P < 0.05), Na+ increased remarkably (P < 0.01), the activity of Ca(2+)-ATPase dropped remarkably (P < 0.01), and MDA increased significantly (P < 0.01). Whereas in the group pretreated with APN, the Ca(2+) in the relevant area reduced (P < 0.05), Na+ decreased significantly (P < 0.01), the activity of Ca(2+)-ATPase and Na+-K+ ATPase increased remarkably (P < 0.01), and MDA decreased significantly (P < 0.01). These findings indicate tha APN may improve the activity of sarcolemma ATPase in alleviating the Ca(2+) and Na+ -overloading by decreasing the harmful effect of oxygen free radicals.