Effect of astragaloside on cardiomyocyte apoptosis in murine coxsackievirus B3 myocarditis

Astragaloside is the major component of Astragalus membranaceus, one of the Chinese medical herbs, and has several pharmacological actions on cardiovascular system, including positive inotropic, antiarrhythmia and anti-oxidant activities. We have investigated the effect of astragaloside on cardiomyocyte apoptosis and expression of apoptosis-associated genes in mice with coxsackievirus B-3 (CVB3)-induced myocarditis, the former of which has been detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay and the latter determined by using a focused microarray. Results showed that cardiomyocyte apoptosis and expression of various apoptosis associated genes are inhibited after treatment with astragaloside. The anti-apoptotic activity of astragaloside may contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes in treating myocarditis with pharmaceutics of Astragalus membranaceus.