Animal models of isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction

The procedures for animal experiments were approved by the Committee on the Use of Live Animals in Teaching and Research of the University of Hong Kong (CULATR 3803-15). Prior to animal experiments, isoproterenol was dissolved in 0.9% saline while PACA was dissolved in 0.9% saline in containing 0.5% ethanol. For the animal experiments, male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the following five groups: control group, receiving intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 0.9% saline and vehicle (0.5 ml/day) for 7 days; isoproterenol group, receiving subcutaneous (SC) injection of isoproterenol (100 mg/kg/day) for 2 consecutive days from the 1^st day; isoproterenol + PACA (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg/day) groups, receiving oral administration of PACA for 7 consecutive days (at 10 minutes prior to isoproterenol treatment). The rats were sacrificed on day 0, day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, day 14, day 21 and day 35.