Objective: To study the protective effect of ? carotene in anoxia injured cardiomyocytes. [WT5FZ]Methods: The cultured rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were subjected to 2h anoxia and the changes of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), oxygen free radical (OFR) contents and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were detected. The effects of pre treatment with ? carotene were then investigated. Results: The LDH, MDA, OFR and SOD of cardiomycytes were changed significantly after 2h anoxia (P