The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of carsil (CAR) either alone or in combination with α-tocopherol (α-TOCO) and/or turmeric (TUMR) against tetrachloromethane (TCM)-induced cardiomyocyte injury in rats. Administration of CAR either alone or in combination with α-TOCO and/or TUMR post-TCM injection, significantly mitigated the increases in serum troponin T, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) as well as interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP). They also decline the elevation of caspase-3, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression as well as DNA damage in cardiac tissues induced by TCM. The biochemical results were confirmed by histopathological investigation. Conclusion: The combination of the three antioxidants showed greater cardioprotective potential, compared to individual drugs. Therefore, this combination may be recommended as a complementary therapy to antagonize cardiac injury induced by different insults.
Keywords: Carsil; antioxidants; cardiomyopathy; tetrachloromethane; vascular endothelial growth factor.