Objective To investigate the effect of propofol on apoptosis and expression of Bcl-2 protein induced by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in isolated rat heart. Methods Thirty-six Wistar rats of both sex weighing 250-300 g were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 3% pentobarbital 30 mg?kg-1 . Their hearts were excised and passively perfused with oxygenated (95% O2, 5% CO2) Krebs-Hensleit buffer (KHB) at 37℃ in a Langendorff apparatus. The animals were randomly divided into control and propofol groups. In control group the cannula connecting aorta was cross-clamped for 30 min to induce global ischemia of the isolated heart, followed by 30 min reperfusion. In propofol group the isolated heart was first perfused with KHB containing propofol 10?mol?L-1 for 30 min. Myocardial apoptosis and Bcl-2 protein expression were detected before ischemia, at the end of 30 min ischemia and at the end of 30 min reperfusion in both groups, using TUNEL and immunohistochemical technique.Results Apoptosis index (AI) was significantly increased, while optical density(OD) of Bcl-2 protein was significantly decreased after ischemia and ischemia - reperfusion in both groups as compared with those before ischemia( P