Abstract: Objective To investigate whether resveratrol (RES) can alleviate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced heart damage in mice. Methods Mice were randomly divided into control group, LPS group(intraperitoneal LPS 7.5 mg/kg) and RES low(20 mg/kg) and high-dose(60 mg/kg) intervention groups. The cardiac function was examined by ultrosound method; heart tissue sections was microscopied with HE staining for morphological change and apoptosis of heart tissue; Western blot was used to examine the expression of the apoptosis-related proteins Bax and Bcl-2. Microplate assay was used to detect CK-MB and LDH in serum; ELISA was performed to detect the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α levels in serum and a commercially available kit was used to detect SOD viability and MDA content in heart tissue homogenates. Results Compared with the control group, LPS group mice showed a decreased cardiac function(P＜0.05) and morphological change of tissue(P＜0.05), significant increase of CK-MB, LDH, IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α release(P＜0.05), decreased SOD activity(P＜0.05), increased MDA content(P＜0.05), increased myocardial apoptotic cells and Bax to Bcl-2 ratio(P＜0.05) were recorded. The RES intervention significantly reversed these changes (P＜0.05), with a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions RES alleviates LPS-induced cardiac damage through an anti-inflammatory,antioxidant and anti-apoptotic mechanism.

Key words: resveratrol, cardiac dysfunction, apoptosis, inflammation, oxidative stress