Objective To survey the effect of piceid on dogs with a model of acute
myocardial infarction. Methods 30 healthy mongrel
dogs weighing 10-15 kg served as the subjects of the study.The model of acute
myocardial infarction was established by ligation of the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery in the dogs under anaesthesia and mechanical ventilation.10 minutes after the ligation the dogs were given each piceid in low(2.5 mg·kg~(-1),n=6),medium(5.0 mg·kg~(-1),n=6) and high(10.0 mg·kg~(-1),n=6) doses,respectively,administered by IV instillation lasting 30 min.Animals of the solvent control group(n=6) were given each an equivalent volume of the solvent in the same manner while those of the blank control group(n=6) were given no treatment.The severity of myocardial ischemia was reflected by the epicardial electrocardiogram.Blood samples from the right ventricle were taken before and 2 h after the medication for the determination of the activities of the serum lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) and creatine kinase(CK).2 h after the ligation of the artery,the dogs were sacrificed and the hearts taken for the determination of the extent of infarction with the NBT staining method. Results Intravenous instillation of piceid was shown to significantly decrease the severity of myocardial ischemia and reduce the extent of infarction in a dose-dependent manner.The drug was also found to mitigate the increase in the activities of serum LDH and CK.Conclusion Piceid injection was shown to have striking protective effects on dogs with acute experimental myocardial infarction.