Abstract
Purpose:To investigate the protective effect of L-carnitine on myocardial injury in rats with heatstroke.Methods:orty-eight rats were randomly divided into control, heatstroke and 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg L-carnitine groups. The last three groups were treated with 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg L-carnitine, respectively, for seven successive days. Then, except for the control group, the other four groups were transferred into the environment with ambient temperature of (39.5 ± 0.4 °C) and relative humidity of (13.5 ± 2.1%) for 2 h. The core temperature (Tc), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and serum and myocardial indexes were detected.Results:Compared with the heatstroke group, in the 100 mg/kg L-carnitine group, the Tc was significantly decreased, the MAP and HR were significantly increased, the serum creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 1β levels were significantly decreased, the myocardial superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase levels were significantly increased, the myocardial malondialdehyde level was significantly decreased and the cardiomyocyte apoptosis index and myocardial caspase-3 protein expression level were remarkably decreased (p < 0.05).Conclusions:The L-carnitine pretreatment can alleviate the myocardial injury in heatstroke rats through reducing the inflammatory response, oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte apoptosis.
Highlights
Heatstroke is a serious manifestation of heat injury and a serious life-threatening disease
The rats were randomly divided into control group, heatstroke group and 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg L-carnitine groups, with 8 rats in each group
Results of this study showed that the serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and AST levels in 50 and 100 mg/kg L-carnitine groups significantly decreased compared with the heatstroke group
Summary
Heatstroke is a serious manifestation of heat injury and a serious life-threatening disease. It is defined as the core temperature (Tc) being over 40 °C, body temperature regulation failure and central nervous system symptoms, such as convulsion, coma, delirium and others[1,2]. L-carnitine is an antioxidant with the function of scavenging free radicals. It can capture the free radicals and promote the reacylation of membrane phospholipids, which is conducive to the repair of biofilm and resistance of oxidation[6,7]. The heatstroke model of rats was established, and the protective effect and mechanism of L-carnitine on myocardial injury in rats with heatstroke were investigated
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