Protective effects of Salidroside on cardiac function in mice with myocardial infarction

Salidroside (SAL) is the major ingredient of Rhodiola rosea, and has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine for decades. Numerous studies have demonstrated the protective effects of SAL for myocardial ischemia. However, it is yet to be deciphered whether SAL has cardioprotective effects after myocardial infarction (MI) in vivo. In the present study, we established a mouse MI model via coronary artery ligation. The aim was to investigate whether SAL treatment could reduce mortality, improve cardiac function and attenuate myocardial remodeling in MI mice. Post-surgery, mice were randomly administered SAL or normal saline. After 21 days, SAL was found to significantly reduce mortality, improve cardiac function, reduce fibrosis and infarct size compared to normal saline. In addition, oral administration of SAL could attenuate myocardial inflammation and apoptosis and promote angiogenesis. SAL down-regulated the expression levels of TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-1β, Bax and up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2, VEGF, Akt and eNOS. These results indicated that SAL could alleviate the pathological processes of myocardial remodeling in MI mice, and may be a potentially effective therapeutic approach for the management of clinical ischemic cardiovascular diseases.