Depside salts from Salvia miltiorrhiza improve myocardial microperfusion in rats using laser Doppler flowmetry

AIM: To investigate the effects of depside salts from Salvia miltiorrhiza on myocardial microperfusion and systemic hemodynamics in open-chest anaesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: Myocardial microperfusion was measured by laser Doppler flowmetry with a needle probe; cardiac output (CO) was determined using ultrasonic Doppler flowmetry. Other hemodynamic parameters, including femoral artery blood pressure, cardiac inotropy, and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were simultaneously recorded by the PowerLab system. RESULTS: Intravenous administration of S miltiorrhiza depside salts resulted in a significant immediate increase in CO and cardiac inotropy, but a fall in SVR. S miltiorrhiza depside salts (30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg) promoted cardiac index (CI) by 12.2%+/-6.3% (P<0.01 vs baseline) and 20.1%+/-3.5% (P<0.01), respectively. Myocardial microperfusion maximally increased by 6.3%+/-2.9% (P<0.01) and 9.6%+/-4.0% (P<0.01) for 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg S miltiorrhiza depside salts, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that S miltiorrhiza depside salts improved myocardial micro-perfusion, as well as CO.