Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026
Herbal Munziq Ameliorates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting Inflammation
Published on: January 10, 2025
Dietary chitosan supplementation attenuates isoprenaline-induced oxidative stress in rat myocardium
R Anandan1, B Ganesan, T Obulesu
1Biochemistry and Nutrition Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Matsyapuri (PO), Cochin 682029, Kerala, India.
Insights
Dietary chitosan supplementation reduced lipid peroxidation and protected the heart in a rat model of myocardial infarction. This antioxidant effect suggests potential benefits for cardiovascular health by combating free radicals.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cardiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Acute myocardial infarction remains a significant global health issue, with ischemic heart diseases projected as a leading cause of disease burden.
- Despite advances, effective management strategies for myocardial infarction are continually sought.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the protective effects of dietary chitosan on lipid peroxidation and the cardiac antioxidant defense system.
- To evaluate chitosan's efficacy in an isoprenaline-induced myocardial infarction rat model, a relevant human condition.
Main Methods:
- Rats were induced with myocardial infarction using isoprenaline.
- Dietary chitosan supplementation was administered to assess its impact on cardiac markers.
- Levels of lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione (GSH), and activities of antioxidant enzymes (GPx, GST, SOD, catalase) were measured.
Main Results:
- Chitosan supplementation significantly reduced isoprenaline-induced lipid peroxidation.
- The levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) were maintained near normal in chitosan-fed rats.
- Activities of myocardial antioxidant enzymes, including glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, were preserved.
Conclusions:
- Dietary chitosan exhibits significant cardioprotective effects against oxidative stress in myocardial infarction.
- Chitosan's benefits are likely due to its ability to counteract free radicals and maintain antioxidant enzyme function.
- This suggests chitosan as a potential therapeutic agent for mitigating myocardial oxidative damage.
Abstract:
Despite considerable advances in diagnosis and management over the last three decades, acute myocardial infarction continues to be a major public health problem. It is predicted that ischemic heart diseases will constitute the major disease-burden worldwide in the year 2020. In the present study, an attempt has been made to examine the effects of dietary chitosan supplementation on lipid peroxidation and cardiac antioxidant defense system in isoprenaline-induced myocardial infarction in rats, an animal model of myocardial infarction in man. Dietary chitosan intake significantly attenuated the isoprenaline-induced lipid peroxidation and maintained the level of reduced glutathione at near normal. Its administration demonstrated an antioxidant effect by maintaining the activities of myocardial glutathione dependent antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidase and glutathione-S-transferase) and antiperoxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) at levels comparable to that of controls. The results of the present study indicate that the salubrious effects of dietary supplementation of chitosan is probably related to a counteraction of free radicals and/or to normal maintenance of the activities of free radical enzymes and the level of GSH, which protect myocardial membrane against oxidative damage by decreasing lipid peroxidation.
