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Crataegus oxycantha (hawthorn) is used in herbal and homeopathic medicine as a cardiotonic. The present study was done to investigate the effect of the alcoholic extract of Crataegus oxycantha (AEC) on mitochondrial function during experimentally induced myocardial infarction in rat. AEC was administered orally to male albino rats (150-200 g), at a dosage of 0.5 ml/100 g body weight/day, for 30 days. At the end of the experimental period, the animals were administered isoproterenol (85 mg/kg body weight, s.c) for 2 days at an interval of 24 h. After 48 h, the rats were anaesthetized and sacrificed. The hearts were homogenized for biochemical and electron microscopic analysis. AEC pretreatment maintained mitochondrial antioxidant status, prevented mitochondrial lipid peroxidative damage and decrease in Kreb's cycle enzymes induced by isoproterenol in rat heart.

Myocardial infarction produces significant abnormal liver functioning. In the present study the hepatoprotective effect of tincture of Crataegus (TCR) in myocardially infarcted rats was investigated. The oral administration of TCR to rats for 30 days afforded good protection against isoproterenol-induced alterations in tissue marker enzymes of liver injury like alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferease, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase and in protein-bound carbohydrates like hexose, hexosamine, fucose, and sialic acid. The protective effect of TCR was further supported by the reversal of isoproterenol-induced histological changes in the liver. The results suggest that TCR, which can protect the heart and circulatory system, can also be hepatoprotective and thereby maintain the near normal architecture of liver tissue.