Abstract: Objective To investigate the protective effect of perindopril on myocardium collagen during the early phase of ventricular remodeling (VR) after myocardial infarction of rats. Methods 60 Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups randomly: which were blank group, sham operation group, model group and perindopril group. The model was established through ligating the left anterior descending coronary of rats. Meanwhile, suture was penetrated around the left anterior but not tied in sham operation group. Intragastrical administration started from the next day after model establishment, once a day for 4 weeks. The dosage of intragastrical administration in perindopril group was 0.36 mg·kg^-1, the other groups were given intragastric administration with equivalent distilled water. After 4 weeks, left ventricular mass index(LVMI) was tested, myocardium pathology was made by hematoxylin and eosin stain, the content of precollagen Ⅲ and collagen Ⅳ in serum were tested by radio-immunity method, expression of collagenⅠand Ⅲ in ischemic myocardium were tested by immunohistochemical method. Results Compared with sham operation group, left ventricular mass and LVMI in model group increased significantly, the expression of collagenⅠ and collagen Ⅲ and precollagen Ⅲ increased significantly(P <0.01). Compared with model group, the LVMI decreased significantly from 3.32 mg·g^-1 to 2.55 mg·g^-1 and content of precollagen Ⅲ decreased from 55.96 μg·L^-1 to 45.61 μg·L^-1 in perindopril group. Moreover, the expression of collagenⅠ and collagen Ⅲ were inhibited in perindopril group(P<0.05, P <0.01). Conclusion Perindopril can play the role of protecting ischemic myocardium and inhibiting VR after AMI by decreasing the LVMI and content of precollagen Ⅲ, inhibiting the expression of collagenⅠ and collagen Ⅲ in rats.

Key words: perindopril, acute myocardial infarction, ventricular remodeling, collagen, rat