Effect of postischemic reperfusion on function of isolated working hearts from rats treated with bitter melon (BM) extract. Lean or Zucker Obese rats (n = 10 animals in each group), fed daily by gavage, for six weeks at 400 mg/kg body weight of BM, are sacrificed and thoracotomized, followed by mounting on isolated working heart setup. Hearts were subjected to 30 min of ischemia followed by 120 min of reperfusion. Cardiac functions including heart rate (HR), aortic flow (AF), coronary flow (CF), cardiac output (CO) and stroke volume alteration (devSV) were recorded before ischemia at time points of 0 (baseline), and 30, 60 and 120 min of reperfusion. Results are provided as average magnitude of each cardiac function value within a group of animals ± SEM. Significance level of difference between average outcome values shown in histograms, is p < 0.05, or less, indicated as follows: * p < 0.05 versus Lean control values; $
p < 0.05 versus Lean BM values; ß
p < 0.05 versus ZO values.