Inadequate blood supply to the heart leads to infarction followed by irreversible necrosis of myocardial tissue. Buddleja asiatica is a medicinal plant screened for antihepatotoxic, hypotensive, anticancer and antioxidant activities. The current experimental research was designed to evaluate the cardioprotective efficacy of Buddleja asiatica against isoproterenol induced cardiac damage in rats. Methanol extract of Buddleja asiatica was administered orally for 30 days at two doses (500 mg and 1000 mg/kg). Serum cardiac marker enzymes [creatine kinase muscle brain (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT)], serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and total protein (TP) were estimated. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels were also recorded. Antioxidant parameters viz catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GRD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were evaluated in heart tissue homogenate. The results of the study indicated that, methanol extract of Buddleja asiatica showed myocardial salvage by restoring the cardiac marker enzymes and lessened the level of plasma lipid profiles along with an increase in HDL. Additionally, level of myocardial antioxidants increased along with a reduction in the content of malondialdehyde. The cardioprotective effect was compared with propranolol (10 mg/kg, oral) which was used as the standard. Histopathological findings revealed a decrease in the degree of necrosis and inflammation following pretreatment with Buddleja asiatica. The present investigation indicates that Buddleja asiatica exerts cardioprotection to rats intoxicated with isoproterenol.
