Antiarrhythmic effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to determine the antiarrhythmic effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an active component of propolis, which exhibits antioxidant properties, in rats subjected to myocardial ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. DESIGN AND METHODS: Rats were subjected to 30 min coronary artery occlusion for evaluating the effect of CAPE on the myocardial ischemia injury. While in the myocardial I/R injury study, the coronary artery was ligated for a 5-min period of ischemia followed by a 30-min period of reperfusion. Animals were pretreated with or without CAPE before coronary artery ligation and the severity of myocardial ischemia- and I/R-induced arrhythmias and mortality were compared. RESULTS: Pretreatment of CAPE (0.1 and 1 microg/kg) not only reduced both the incidence and duration of ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF) but also decreased the mortality during the myocardial ischemia and I/R injury period. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that CAPE is a potent antiarrhythmic agent with cardioprotective effects in myocardial ischemia and I/R injury rats.