Myocardial infarction affects a large population in the world.
Lipid peroxide metabolism plays an important role in the pathology of
myocardial infarction. This study aims to evaluate the preventive effect of
caffeic acid on
lipid peroxides,
antioxidants, cardiac marker
enzymes, and histopathological findings in
isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial-infarcted male Wistar rats.
Myocardial infarction was induced in rats by
subcutaneous injection of ISO (100 mg/kg) at an interval of 24 hours for 2 days. The ISO-induced rats showed significant increase in the levels of
thiobarbituric acid reactive substances,
lipid hydroperoxides in the heart, plasma
uric acid, and serum cardiac marker
enzymes, and significant decrease in the activities of heart
superoxide dismutase,
catalase,
glutathione peroxidase,
glutathione reductase,
glutathione-S-transferase, and the levels of
reduced glutathione,
vitamin E, and
vitamin C in the plasma and heart. Oral pretreatment with
caffeic acid (15 mg/kg) daily for 10 days showed significant decrease in the levels of serum cardiac marker
enzymes, heart lipid peroxidation products and plasma
uric acid and significant increase in the levels of
antioxidant system. Histopathology of myocardium also confirmed the protective effect of
caffeic acid in myocardial-infarcted rats. In vitro study on total
antioxidant activity (2,2'-azinobis-[3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-
sulfonic acid](+) assay) confirmed the strong
antioxidant action of
caffeic acid. Thus, the present study revealed that
caffeic acid ameliorates cardiac damage in ISO-induced
myocardial infarction by maintaining
lipid peroxide metabolism due to its
free radical scavenging and
antioxidant effects. A diet containing
caffeic acid may be beneficial to
myocardial infarction.