Effect of Cissampelos pareira root extract on isoproterenol-induced cardiac dysfunction

The aim of this study was to assess the cardioprotective effect of Cissampelos pareira root extract on isoproterenol-induced cardiac dysfunction in rats. Male albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into eight groups and received either normal saline (0.5 ml/kg, intraperitoneally), isoproterenol (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), C. pareira (100 and 200 mg/kg, by gavage, respectively) alone, amlodipine (9 mg/kg, by gavage) alone, C. pareira (100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively) + isoproterenol and amlodipine (9 mg/kg) + isoproterenol, once a day for 30 days, respectively. Isoproterenol-induced cardiac dysfunction was characterized by a significant (P < 0.001) increase in the heart weigh/body weight ratio, serum calcineurin, nitric oxide, lactate dehydrogenase, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels, as well as a significant decrease in serum-reduced glutathione, cardiac glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione-S-transferase levels, which were significantly (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01) improved by C. pareira treatment. No significant alteration was observed in the group treated with C. pareira alone compared with the control. C. pareira treatment also restored histopathological changes observed in isoproterenol-induced rats. Amlodipine is used as standard drug in this study. Thus, these results suggest that the attenuation of isoproterenol-induced cardiac dysfunction by treatment with ethanolic root extract of C. pareira may be due to amelioration of calcineurin activity and free radical formation, and by augmentation of antioxidant enzymes activities.