Abstract:

Objective     To investigate the effects of Tongxinluo on the expressions of RAGE and NF-κB in diabetic rats. Methods      15 rats were chosen randomly from 60 healthy male Wistar rats as the normal control group(C group, n=15). The other 45 rats were subjected to 0.1% STZ through the tail veins to induce diabetes. Then 40 rats were randomly divided into two groups: the diabetic model group (DM group, n=20) and the Tongxinluo-treatment diabetic group (TXL group, n=20, Tongxinluo 500mg/(kg·d)). After 24 weeks,there were 12 rats in C group,9 ones in DM group and 13 ones in TXL group.All rats were sacrificed, and the fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin and AGEs were determined. Myocardial expressions of RAGE and NF-κB were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Results     Compared with C group, Plasma AGEs and myocardial expressions of RAGE and NF-κB were higer in DM group(P<0.05). As for AGEs,there was no significant difference between DM group and TXL group(P>0.05), however, the myocardial expressions of RAGE and NF-κB of TXL group were both lower than those of DM group(P<0.05).  Conclusion     Tongxinluo may exert protective effects on myocardium by suppressing the expressions of RAGE and NF-κB in diabetic rats.

Key words: Tongxinluo; Advanced glycosylation end products; Advanced glycosylation end product receptor; Nuclear factor-kappa B; Rats, Wistar