¹Department of Pharmacology-Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia
²Laboratory of Clinical Science and Biomedicine, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan DOI : 10.12991/jrp.2019.130 The study aimed to evaluate the cardioprotective role of Sonchus arvensis (Linn.) leaves in isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in Wistar rats and in the survival of cardiomyocytes in vitro upon starvation challenge. Fractions of an ethanolic extract of S. arvensis leaves (100 and 200 mg/kg bw) were administered orally to Wistar rats (250–300 g) for 14 days. Isoproterenol 85 mg/kg bw was given at day 13 and 14. The rats were then sacrificed on the next day. Serum activities of aspartate transferase (AST), alanine transferase (ALT), creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured using standard commercial kits. The protective effect of S. arvensis on damaged cardiomyocytes was investigated by examining the cell survival. Furthermore, the Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) serum level of the MI rats was also determined. The results show that pretreatment with n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of S. arvensis for a period of 14 days could not attenuate the increase of AST, ALT, CK, CK-MB, and LDH levels upon isoproterenol administration. Moreover, viability of the fractions pretreatedcardiomyocytes showed a cardiotoxic effect. However, pretreatment with the water fraction significantly attenuated the increase of AST, ALT, CK, CK-MB, and LDH levels in isoproterenol-induced MI rats and increased the survival of cardiomyocytes upon starvation challenge. The increase of the TNF-α level upon ISO administration in rats was not observed in the water fraction pre-treatment group. In conclusion, the water fraction of Sonchus arvensis L. leaves at a dose of 100 mg/kg bw protects the myocardium and exerts cardioprotective effects, probably by inhibiting TNF-α production. Keywords : Sonchus arvensis L.; isoproterenol; myocardial infarction; cardiomyocytes; TNF-α.