Reduction of myocardial reperfusion injury with human soluble complement receptor type 1 (BRL 55730).

This study was designed to evaluate the cardioprotective effects of a solubilized human complement receptor, sCR1, in the rat subjected to myocardial infarction. Following coronary artery occlusion for 0.5 h and reperfusion for 24 h (MI/R group), myocardial infarct size (determined by planimetric analysis) was 18.3 +/- 2.1% of the left ventricle (n = 16), while myeloperoxidase activity (a biochemical marker of neutrophil activation) was increased from 0.94 +/- 0.09 U/g tissue in the sham occluded + vehicle group to 2.96 +/- 0.17 U/g tissue in the MI/R + vehicle treated group (P < 0.01). Injection of sCR1 (5 mg/kg i.v., 5 min prior to coronary artery occlusion) produced plasma concentrations of 154 +/- 4 microgram/ml 1 min prior to coronary artery occlusion, and concentrations of 86 +/- 2 and 58 +/- 3 micrograms/ml at 40 min and 125 min after dosing (n = 6). sCR1 reduced myocardial infarct size to 11.3 +/- 2.2% of the left ventricle, and attenuated the increase in myeloperoxidase activity to 2.11 +/- 0.20 U/g tissue (n = 18; P < 0.01, compared to the MI/R + vehicle group). Administration of sCR1 5 min prior to reperfusion afforded a 25.3% non-significant reduction in myocardial injury. These results suggest a beneficial effect of sCR1 in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury by reducing the infiltration of neutrophils and attenuating the extent of myocardial injury.

Analgetic activity of SK&F 105809, a dual inhibitor of arachidonic acid metabolism.

The analgetic activity of inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and cyclooxygenase (CO) was investigated using rat Randall-Selitto (RS) hyperalgesia and mouse phenylbenzoquinone (PBQ)-induced abdominal constriction assays. Using the RS assay, the CO inhibitors indomethacin, naproxen, and ibuprofen all effectively reduced hyperalgesia; whereas, the inhibitors of leukotriene production, MK886 and phenidone were inactive. SK&F 105809, a dual inhibitor of 5-LO/CO, significantly reduced hyperalgesia. In the PBQ assay, CO inhibitors were active, SK&F 105809 was nearly as potent as naproxen, and MK886 and phenidone were found to be active. Thus, improved analgetic activity appeared to result from inhibition of 5-LO and CO; whereas, in the RS assay, only CO inhibitors and SK&F 105809 were clearly effective. These results suggest that dual inhibitors, and in particular, SK&F 105809 may be more efficient analgesic agents than selective CO inhibitors in clinical situations in which 5-LO products play a significant role.

Effect of propranolol on ischemic myocardial damage and left ventricular hypertrophy following permanent coronary artery occlusion or occlusion followed by reperfusion.

This study was designed to assess the effect of propranolol for limiting myocardial damage and hypertrophy in rats with permanent coronary artery occlusion or occlusion followed by reperfusion. Rats were subjected to occlusion of the left main coronary artery for 48 h (MI) or 0.5 h of occlusion followed by reperfusion for 47.5 h (MI/R). Myocardial injury was determined by measuring the depletion of creatine phosphokinase (CK) levels from the left ventricular free wall. In comparison to sham-occluded animals, myocardial CK levels were significantly decreased by 40% in MI + vehicle animals and 30% in MI/R + vehicle animals. Propranolol (0.3 mg/kg 1 min before occlusion followed by 1 mg/kg at 4 and 24 h after occlusion) significantly reduced the loss of myocardial CK-specific activity in MI animals, but failed to prevent the loss of CK-specific activity in animals subjected to coronary artery reperfusion. Left ventricular hypertrophy developed to a similar extent in both vehicle-treated MI and MI/R groups. Propranolol had no effect on the myocardial hypertrophy in MI or MI/R animals. Likewise, in MI/R animals no diminution of polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration was seen with propranolol. These data indicate that propranolol had a significant cardioprotective effect in rats with permanent coronary artery occlusion but failed to salvage ischemic tissue, reduce myocardial hypertrophy or mitigate neutrophil infiltration in animals with early reperfusion of the ischemic myocardium. These results suggest that propranolol may afford a significant protection of the ischemic myocardium, but the combination of reperfusion and propranolol may not result in any greater reduction in infarct size than reperfusion alone.