title: Evaluation of cardiomyocyte hypoxia injury models for the pharmacological study in vitro.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional Herbal Medicine (THM) has many advantages that make it a promising choice for the treatment of ischemic heart disease (IHD). To study the mechanism of IHDs or pharmacological actions of THM, many hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury models have been established. Radix Salvia miltorrhiza (Danshen) was used as a representative of THM. Danshen is a famous medicinal herb widely applied in Asia to relieve ischemic cardiovascular diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of various hypoxic conditions and discuss a suitable hypoxia model, cell viability, apoptosis, release of myocardial injury markers, and mRNA levels of target genes were tested for the first time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Radix Salvia miltorrhiza (Danshen) was purchased from a GMP-compliant producer and both its preparation method and quality control were standardized. Cellular status, such as cell viability, apoptosis, releases of myocardial injury markers, and the mRNA level of target gene were tested by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method, biochemical analyzer, flow cytometry, Hoechst 33258 staining, and real-time PCR, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on our data, we found a treppe response of cardiomyocyte in the hypoxic condition and suggested that 8 h in 2% O2 might be a suitable condition for in vitro pharmacological study of cardiomyocytes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings outlined more extended and in-depth capability of cardiomyocyte suffering from hypoxia, and might be of particular interest due to the high prevalence of THM pharmacological study.
authors.affiliation: Division of Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D010618:Phenanthrolines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D027561:Salvia miltiorrhiza / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010618:Phenanthrolines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C028972:dan-shen root extract