Evaluation of General Toxicity, Anti-Oxidant Activity and Effects of <em>Ficus Carica </em>Leaves Extract on Ischemia/Reperfusion Injuries in Isolated Heart of Rat

Saeideh Allahyari

Abbas Delazar

Moslem Najafi

^{Student Research Committee, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.}

^{Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.}

^{Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.}

^{Corresponding author:} Moslem Najafi, Tel: +98 41 33372250; Fax: +98 41 33344798, ri.ca.demzbt@mifajan

Received 2014 Aug 26; Revised 2014 Nov 8; Accepted 2014 Nov 11.

Copyright^{2014 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.}

Abstract

Purpose: This study was aimed to evaluate general toxicity, anti-oxidant activity and effects of Ficus carica leaves extract on ischemia/reperfusion injuries.

Methods: Antioxidant activity, total phenolic and flavonoid compounds of 70% methanolic extract of Ficus carica leaves were measured. The general toxicity test was carried out by brine shrimp lethality assay. Isolated hearts of male rats were mounted on a Langendorff apparatus and perfused with modified Krebs-Henseleit solution. In control group, the hearts were perfused with normal Krebs solution, however, treatment groups received enriched solution with the extract (0.04, 0.2 and 1 mg/ml) during stabilization and reperfusion (after 30 min global ischemia), respectively. Cardiac arrhythmias were analyzed and TTC method was used for infarct size determination.

Results: The extract displayed antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay (RC₅₀=0.06666 mg/ml). Total phenolic content was 12.29 mg GAE/100 g dry sample and the amount of flavonoids was calculated 40.729 mg/g. LD50 value by brine shrimp test was 0.158 mg/ml. The extract decreased number of VEBs, incidence and duration of Rev VF with clear reduction in infarct size and infarct volume (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Ficus carica decreased ischemia/reperfusion-induced injuries. These protections are probably due to antioxidant capacity and the existence of flavonoid and phenolic compounds in the extract.

Keywords: Ficus carica, Methanolic extract, Ischemia/Reperfusion, DPPH, Infarct size, Isolated heart

Abstract

VT: ventricular tachycardia, Re VF: Reversible Ventricular Fibrillation, Irre VF: Irreversible Ventricular Fibrillation. Data are expressed as mean±SEM. ***P<0.001, **P<0.01, *P<0.05 versus control.

Percentage of infarct size in the control and isolated rat hearts receiving 0.04-1 mg/ml of 70% methanolic extract of Ficus carica leaves during 120 min reperfusion after 30 min global ischemia. Data are expressed as mean±SEM. *** P<0.001 in comparison with the control group.

The volume of infarcted area in the control and isolated rat hearts receiving 0.04-1 mg/ml of 70% methanolic extract of Ficus carica leaves during 120 min reperfusion after 30 min global ischemia. Data are expressed as mean±SEM. *** P<0.001 in comparison with the control group.

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