RESUMO
AIM: To study apoptosis and bcl-2 mRNA gene expression of cardiomyocytes in donor hearts of immature rabbits underwent prolonged protection by 11, 12-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (11, 12-EET), and further probe into the possible mechanisms. METHODS: 24 isolated immature rabbit hearts were performed to the model in a Langendorff perfusion apparatus and randomly assigned to normal control group,ST control group and EET group. The isolated rabbit hearts in ST control group and EET group were stored for 24 hours with 4 ℃ hypothermia, and underwent 30 minutes of reperfusion (37 ℃). TUNEL and in situ hybridization (ISH) methods were applied in the present study and apoptotic cells and bcl-2 mRNA gene expression were observed. RESULTS: The numbers of apoptotic cardiomyocytes in ST group and EET group were higher than that in normal control group, and the numbers of apoptotic cardiomyocytes were significantly decreased in EET group and bcl-2 mRNA positive expression were higher than that in ST control group, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There were apoptosis during the prolonged protection of donor heart in our study, and we proved that: ①11,12-EET could decrease cardiomyocyte apoptosis significantly. ②Up-regulation of the bcl-2 mRNA expression in cardiomyocytes may be one of the mechanism responsible for inhibition of cardiomyocyte apoptosis by 11, 12-EET.