\[Abstract\]ObjectiveTo investigate whether Shuxuening injection has a protective effect on myocardial injury in rats with cecal ligation and puncture(CLP)-induced sepsis. MethodsThirty SD rats were randomly allocated to Sham group, CLP group and Shuxuening group (SXN group). In the Shuxuening group, Shuxuening injection was intraperitoneally injected at a dose of 1 mg(0.3 ml)/body weight 1 h before CLP challenge. The sham and CLP groups received an equal volume of saline injection (0.3 ml/kg) at the same time points. Six hours later, the blood samples were obtained from abdominal aorta to determine the contents of TnT, TNF-α, and IL-1β. Meanwhile, MDA contents and SOD activities in myocardial tissues were also tested and the pathologic changes of the myocardial tissue were observed by H-E staining. ResultsCompared with CLP group, the serum contents of TnT, TNF-α, and IL-1β and myocardial tissue MDA were decreased in Shuxuening group; and the myocardial tissue SOD activities were significantly increased in Shuxuening group(P<0.05 or 0.01). Microscope observation showed that the degrees of myocardial congestion, edema, and inflammatory cell infiltration were greatly improved in the Shuxuening group compared with in the CLP group. ConclusionOur results suggest that Shuxuening can protect against CLP-induced myocardial injury in rats, probably through scavenging free radical and inhibiting release of inflammatory mediators.