Ginsenoside Rg3 Improves Cardiac Function after Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion via Attenuating Apoptosis and Inflammation.

. Ginsenoside Rg3 is one of the ginsenosides which are the main constituents isolated from . Previous study demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg3 had a protective effect against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion- (I/R-) induced injury. . This study was designed to evaluate the effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on cardiac function impairment induced by myocardial I/R in rats. . Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to myocardial I/R. Echocardiographic and hemodynamic parameters and histopathological examination were carried out. The expressions of P53, Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 and the levels of TNF- and IL-1 in the left ventricles were measured. . Ginsenoside Rg3 increased a left ventricular fractional shortening and left ventricular ejection fraction. Treatment with ginsenoside Rg3 also alleviated increases of left ventricular end diastolic pressure and decreases of left ventricular systolic pressure and ±dp/dt in myocardial I/R-rats. Ginsenoside Rg3 decreased apoptosis cells through inhibiting the activation of caspase-3. Ginsenoside Rg3 also caused significant reductions of the contents of TNF- and IL-1 in left ventricles of myocardial I/R-rats. . The findings suggested that ginsenoside Rg3 possessed the effect of improving myocardial I/R-induced cardiac function impairment and that the mechanism of pharmacological action of ginsenoside Rg3 was related to its properties of antiapoptosis and anti-inflammation.