Cardioprotective effects of pomegranate (Punica granatum) have been discovered in recent years. This study was aimed to assess the potential antiarrhythmic activity of pomegranate juice in isolated rat hearts subjected to hypoxia and reperfusion. The antiarrhythmic effects of the juice were studied in two phases: first, the isolated hearts of anesthetized rats were subjected to 30 min global ischemia and 90 min reperfusion. In four groups (n = 9 each), hearts received the pomegranate juice via Krebs solution at 0 (control), 1, 2 or 4% concentration. For the second phase, two groups of rats (n = 10) were gavaged with placebo (control) or pomegranate juice (4 mL kg-1 BW d-1) for three weeks. The isolated hearts from these animals underwent 30 min ischemia and 90 min reperfusion. The occurrence of single and salvo arrhythmias, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation were significantly lower in the juice-treated test groups in both phases of the study. Thus, results suggest strong protective effects of pomegranate juice against ischemia and reperfusion-induced arrhythmias in isolated rat hearts.

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