title: Effect of crocin on nitric oxide synthase expression in post-ischemic isolated rat heart.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oxidative stress damages cells and brings about the pathogenesis of ischemia/reperfusion injury. This study was carried out to investigate the preconditioning and cardio protective potential effects of crocin and vitamin E by the eNOS and iNOS express gene in ischemia/reperfusion in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male rats were divided into seven groups, namely: sham, control group and experimental groups treated with crocin(10, 20 and 40 mg/kg), vitamin E (100 mg/kg) and combination of crocin (40 mg/kg) with vitamin E (100 mg/kg) that were gavaged The heart was removed and relocated to a Langendorff apparatus and subjected to global ischemia and then the left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) were measured as a hemodynamic parameter. Total RNA was extracted from heart frozen tissues. RT-PCR technique was performed by specific primers designed for nitric oxide gene and the results were assessed by agarose gel electrophoresis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results after ischemia and reperfusion showed that crocin 40 mg/kg produced a significant improvement of LVEDP as a mechanical function (p<0.05), associated with a reduction of iNOS release (p<0.05). The eNOS mRNA levels were significantly higher in crocin-treated 40 mg/kg compared to controls treated by RT-PCR technique. The combination of crocin and vitamin E have shown more effective on the reduction of iNOS release (p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the isolated rat heart, protective effect of crocin, may possibly be explained by regulating eNOS and iNOS expressions. The Results resultsconfirmed the hypothesis that cardioprotective effect of crocin is partly mediated by nitric oxide. This could explain the cardioprotective action of crocin following ischemia and reperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esmaeilizadeh
authors.affiliation: Physiology Research Center and Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dianat
authors.affiliation: Physiology Research Center and Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Badavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samarbaf-Zadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahareh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naghizadeh
keywords: Crocin; Ischemia-reperfusion injury; Rat; Vitamin E; eNOS protein; iNOS protein