Protective Effects of Galium verum L. Extract against Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Galium verum L. (G.verum,lady’s bedstraw) is a perennial herbaceous plant, belonging to the Rubiaceae family. It has been widely used throughout history due to multiple therapeutic properties. However, the effects of this plant species on functional recovery of the heart after ischemia have still not been fully clarified. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the effects of methanol extract ofG. verumon myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), with a special emphasis on the role of oxidative stress. Rats involved in the research were divided randomly into two groups: control (spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR)) andG. verumgroup, including SHR rats treated with theG. verumextract (500 mg/kg body weight per os) for 4 weeks. At the end of the treatment,in vivocardiac function was assessed by echocardiography. Rats were sacrificed and blood samples were taken for spectrophotometric determination of systemic redox state. Hearts from all rats were isolated and retrogradely perfused according to theLangendorfftechnique. After a stabilization period, hearts were subjected to 20-minute ischemia, followed by 30-minute reperfusion. Levels of prooxidants were spectrophotometrically measured in coronary venous effluent, while antioxidant enzymes activity was assessed in heart tissue. Cell morphology was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. 4-week treatment withG. verumextract alleviated left ventricular hypertrophy and considerably improvedin vivocardiac function. Furthermore,G. verumextract preserved cardiac contractility, systolic function, and coronary vasodilatory response after ischemia. Moreover, it alleviated I/R-induced structural damage of the heart. Additionally,G. verumextract led to a drop in the generation of most of the measured prooxidants, thus mitigating cardiac oxidative damage. Promising potential ofG. verumin the present study may be a basis for further researches which would fully clarify the mechanisms through which this plant species triggers cardioprotection.