Abstract: Objective: To observe the effects of Astragalus Injection on the serum myocardial enzymes,oxidative kinases, the expressions of inflammatory factors and the apoptosis-related proteins in myocardium tissue of the rats with sleep deprivation, and to investigate its protective effect on the heart and mechanism. Methods: A total of 40 SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group, low dose of Astragalus Injection group and high dose of Astragalus Injection group, with 10 rats in each group. The rats in low and high doses of Astragalus Injection groups were intraperitioneally injected with 0.2 and 0.8 mL·kg^-1 Astragalus Injection, while the rats in control group and model group were given normal saline, and lasted for 2 weeks. The sleep deprivation rat models were established by modified multiple platform water environment method(MMPWM). The morphology of myocardum tissue of the rats in various groups was observed by HE staining. TUNEL method was used to detect the apoptotic myocardiocytes, and the apoptotic index (AI) was calculated. Biochemical analyzer was used to detect the activities of serum myocardial enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (α-HBDH) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). ELISA was used to detect the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) in myocardium tissue of the rats in various groups. ELISA was used to detect the levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in myocardium tissue of the rats in various groups. The expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1) and Caspase-3 proteins in myocardium tissue of the rats in various groups were determined by Western blotting method. Results: Compared with model group, the inflammatory infiltration and edema of the rats in low and high doses of Astragalus Injection groups were significantly reduced, the AI was significantly decreased (P<0.05), the activities of serum LDH, CK, α-HBDH and ALT of the rats in low and high doses of Astragalus Injection groups were significantly decreased (P<0.05), the activities of SOD and GSH-Px in myocardium tissue of the rats were significantly increased (P<0.05), the levels of MDA were significantly decreased (P<0.05), the levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in myocardium tissue were significantly decreased (P<0.05), the expression levels of Bax, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and Caspase-3 proteins were significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the expression levels of Bcl-2 protein were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with low dose of Astragalus Injection group, the myocardial injury of the rats in high dose of Astragalus Injection group was improved significantly and the each index was changed more obviously. Conclusion: Astragalus Injection can protect the myocardium tissue damage caused by sleep deprivation of the rats, and its mechanism may be related to reducing oxidative stress, down-regulating the expressions of adhesion molecule and apoptotic protein and reducing apoptosis and inflammatory factor release; the effect is dose dependent in a certain range.

Key words: Astragalus Injection, sleep deprivation, oxidative damage, inflammatory factors, apoptosis