Abstract

Context: Desmodium gangeticum (L) DC (Fabaceae; DG), a medicinal plant that grows in tropical habitats, is widely used to treat various ailments including digestive and inflammatory disorders. Aims: To investigate the possible cardioprotective activity of a DG root extract against isoproterenol (ISO)-induced left ventricular cardiac hypertrophy (LVH) in adult Wistar rats. Methods: Daily intraperitoneal administration of ISO (10 mg/kg body weight, single injection) for 7 days induced LVH in rats. The LVH rats were post-treated orally with DG (100 mg/kg body weight) for a period of 30 days. Thereafter, changes in heart weight (HW) and body weight (BW), HW/BW ratio, percent of hypertrophy, collagen accumulation, activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -2 and -9, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymes, and the level of an oxidative stress marker, lipid peroxide (LPO), were determined. Results: HW/BW ratio, an indicator of hypertrophic growth, was significantly reduced in DG root post-treated LVH rats as compared with that for the non-treated LVH rats. The altered levels of ventricular LPO, collagen, MMPs-2 and -9, and antioxidant enzymes in the ISO-treated animals reverted back to near normal upon DG treatment. Further, the anti-hypertrophic activity of DG was comparable to that of the standard drug losartan (10 mg/kg). Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that the aqueous root extract of DG exhibited anti-hypertrophic activity in-vivo by inhibiting ISO-induced ROS generation and MMP activities.

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