Isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy in rats: influence of Acorus calamus Linn.: A. calamus attenuates cardiomyopathy.

Acorus calamus has been used as a traditional remedy since ancient days but its cardioprotective effect is not yet well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of A. calamus rhizome extract in isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy in rats. Male Wistar rats were treated with normal saline (0.5 ml/kg, i.p.), isoproterenol (5 mg/kg, i.p.), A. calamus (100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively, by gavage) alone, amlodipine (9.0 mg/kg, by gavage) alone, A. calamus (100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively) + isoproterenol and amlodipine (9.0 mg/kg) + isoproterenol, single dose/day for 30 days, respectively. Isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy was characterized by a significant (P < 0.001) increase in heart weigh/body weight ratio, calcineurin, nitric oxide, lactate dehydrogenase, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance levels as well as a significant (P < 0.001) decrease in reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione-S-transferase levels. Treatment with A. calamus significantly (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01) attenuated isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy. No significant alteration was found in A. calamus-alone groups compared with the vehicle. Amlodipine is used as standard drug in this study. Thus, the result shows that A. calamus attenuates isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy. This could be due to attenuating calcineurin activity and oxidative stress.