Abstract
The present study was designed to evaluate the preventive effects of N‐acetyl cysteine on lipid peroxide metabolism in isoproterenol (ISO) induced myocardial infarcted rats. Male albino Wistar rats were pretreated with N‐acetyl cysteine (5 and 10 mg/kg) daily for a period of 14 days. After the pretreatment period, ISO (100 mg/kg) was subcutaneously injected to rats twice at an interval of 24 h. Increased activities of serum creatine kinase, creatine kinase‐MB, lactate dehydrogenase, and increased intensities of serum lactate dehydrogenase‐isoenzyme bands (LDH‐1, LDH‐2) were observed in ISO‐induced rats. The heart lipid peroxidation products were significantly increased, and the antioxidant system was significantly reduced in ISO‐induced rats. Pretreatment with N‐acetyl cysteine (5 and 10 mg/kg) to ISO‐induced rats showed significant effects on all the biochemical parameters studied. Histopathological findings of the myocardium also showed the protective role of N‐acetyl cysteine in ISO‐induced rats. Furthermore, in vitro study confirmed the potent‐free radical scavenging activity of N‐acetyl cysteine. The effect at a dose of 10 mg/kg of N‐acetyl cysteine was more pronounced than the dose, 5 mg/kg. The results of our study show that N‐acetyl cysteine protects the heart against ISO‐induced myocardial infarction by its free radical scavenging effect. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 25:151–157 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/jbt.20371