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Updated: May 30, 2026
Herbal Munziq Ameliorates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting Inflammation
Published on: January 10, 2025
Protective effects of muscone on ischemia-reperfusion injury in cardiac myocytes
1Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China. qbwu@must.edu.mo
Ethnopharmacological Relevance:
Musk has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine as the main ingredient of many formulations for the treatment of chest pain and angina pectoris.
Aim Of The Study:
To investigate the protective effects of muscone (the active ingredient of musk) on ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury induced by hypoxia and low glucose in primary cultured rat cardiac myocytes.
Materials And Methods:
Primary cultures of neonatal rat cardiac myocytes were subjected to ischemia-reperfusion in media, with or without muscone. Cell viability, release of lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, creatine kinase (CK) and caspase-3 activities, as well as intracellular free Ca(2+) concentrations, were measured. Cellular apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were assessed by flow cytometry, and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins was assessed by Western blotting.
Results:
Following the exposure of cardiac myocytes to ischemia-reperfusion, there was a marked decrease in pulsating frequency, cell viability, SOD activity, MMP, and the expression of Bcl-2 protein, accompanied by increased LDH release, MDA production, CK and caspase-3 activities, intracellular free Ca(2+) concentrations, rate of apoptosis, and expression of Bax protein. Pretreatment with muscone (0.215, 0.43, 0.86 μg/mL) prior to I/R injury significantly attenuated the above changes.
Conclusion:
Muscone has a protective effect against I/R injury in cardiac myocytes, indicating that muscone may potentially provide therapeutic benefit in I/R injury by inhibiting cellular oxidative stress and apoptosis.
