Effect of cocaine on caspase-3 in myocardiac cells of male rats in different age

AIM: To study the effect of cocaine on caspase-3 in myocardiac cells of male rats in different age. METHODS: Three-week-old(n=16), six-week-old(n=16) and twelve-week-old (n=16) male Sprague-Dawley rats were all divided into control groups and experiment groups randomly, each group had eight animals, experiment groups were given cocaine hydrochloride (15 mg·kg^-1 body weight) subcutaneously daily for four weeks. The ratio of heart weight to body weight (HW/BW, mg/g) were measured. DNA fragmentation of myocardia cells was determined by gel electrophoresis, and caspase-3 activity in myocardia cells was tested by flow cytometry (FCM). RESULTS: In three experiment groups, the DNA isolated from myocardial cells displayed clear ladder pattern. The HW/BW and the caspase-3 activity were increased significantly than those of control groups (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Cocaine induced apoptosis in rat myocardial cells. The increase in caspase-3 activity may be the one of important pathways related to the induction of apoptosis.