Herbal Munziq Ameliorates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting Inflammation

The objective of this study was to investigate the cardioprotective effects of Munziq on abnormal body fluid myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) and its underlying mechanism.Normal rats and rats with abnormal body fluid (ABF) were pre-treated with Munziq for 21 days. Following this, MIRI models were established. Histopathological changes and myocardial ultrastructure changes were observed by Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE)staining and transmission electron microscopy to observe pathological manifestations of myocardial injury. Serum CK-MB, cTn-T, and ICAM-1 levels were detected by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to observe myocardial injury-related markers. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in serum and myocardial tissue were also detected by ELISA to observe the anti-inflammatory effect. The expression levels of NF-κB signaling pathway-related proteins NIK, IKKα, Pikα, and p65 were detected by Western blot analysis. The results showed that myocardial injury in the ABF MIRI group was more severe compared to the control MIRI group. Munziq pretreatment has the potential to mitigate the pathological changes induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury and could protect cardiac function. Protein levels of the NF-κB pathway and downstream effectors IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were significantly up-regulated in the MIRI group while down-regulated in the Munziq group. Interestingly, there was more activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway and higher levels of downstream inflammatory cytokines in the ABF MIRI group. The results suggest that MIRI was more severe in ABF. Munziq has cardioprotective effects in ischemia and reperfusion injury. This protective effect may be acted by suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathway.