Sustained inhibition of nitric oxide by NG-nitro-L-arginine improves myocardial function following ischemia/reperfusion in isolated perfused rat heart.

It has been postulated that nitric oxide (NO) can react with superoxide anion (.O2-) to generate hydroxyl (.OH) radical. If this is correct, inhibition of NO synthesis could attenuate .OH radical mediated ischemia/reperfusion injury. Therefore we studied the effects of NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA), a competitive inhibitor of the NO synthase enzyme on ischemia/reperfusion injury injury in isolated perfused rat hearts. Three groups of rats (n = 12-15) were studied. Group I: Untreated ischemia/reperfusion control (37.5 min of global ischemia followed by 20 min reperfusion); Group II: ischemia/reperfusion with 25 microM NG-nitro-L-arginine; and Group III: ischemia/reperfusion in the presence of L-NNA and 2 mM L-arginine, the substrate for NO synthase. Coronary flow (in ml/min) and ventricular developed pressure, +dP/dt and -dP/dt were measured 5 min prior to ischemia and at the end of reperfusion. Baseline preischemic developed pressure was significantly lower in L-NNA perfused hearts than controls (76.8 +/- 5.9 v 97.6 +/- 2.9 mmHg, P < 0.05). However, the developed pressure following reperfusion was significantly greater in L-NNA perfused hearts (57.4 +/- 7.4 v 20.8 +/- 6.4 mmHg in control). This protective effect was reversed by the addition of L-arginine. Preischemic coronary flow was decreased significantly in the L-NNA group (6.4 +/- 0.5 ml/min) compared to controls (11.6 +/- 0.7 ml/min). The duration of sinus rhythm was significantly improved from 3.8 +/- 1.2 min in controls to 15.1 +/- 0.8 min in L-NNA perfused hearts. A corresponding significantly lower incidence of arrhythmias was observed (10.2 +/- 1.5 in ischemia/reperfusion group v 1.7 +/- 0.8 min with L-NNA).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Oxidant stress increases heat shock protein 70 mRNA in isolated perfused rat heart.

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and preconditioning of the heart by coronary artery occlusions increase expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP 70). Because free radicals are generated during I/R, we hypothesized that the oxidant stress might contribute to an increased expression of HSP 70. Isolated rat hearts were perfused with free radical-generating systems such as xanthine/xanthine oxidase (X/XO), irradiated rose bengal (RB) generating singlet oxygen, and H2O2 for 15 min followed by 30 min of recovery period. Significant decrease in developed pressure and coronary flow occurred after perfusion with X/XO, H2O2, and RB. During I/R, the developed pressure and coronary flow were 60 +/- 8 and 80 +/- 5%, respectively, of control, which improved significantly with superoxide dismutase. The expression of HSP 70 mRNA increased over 13-fold in hearts perfused with X/XO, 6- to 7-fold with RB, and over 5-fold with H2O2. With I/R, an over 10-fold increase in HSP 70 mRNA was observed, which decreased significantly in the presence of superoxide dismutase. These results demonstrate that oxidant stress directly increases HSP 70 mRNA in the rat heart. It is concluded that one of the potential mechanisms of expression of HSP 70 by I/R may be oxygen radicals.

Protective effects of histidine during ischemia-reperfusion in isolated perfused rat hearts.

We investigated the efficacy of histidine in reducing ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced myocardial injury in isolated perfused rat hearts. In I/R hearts, the contractile function and coronary flow were 59 +/- 10 and 78 +/- 6% of control. Perfusion with histidine resulted in significant increase in contractility (94 +/- 4%) and coronary flow (92 +/- 4%). The incidence of arrhythmias during reperfusion was 100% (10 out of 10) in the I/R hearts with an average duration of 12.22 +/- 1.55 (SE) min. The duration of arrhythmias was shortened to 8.24 +/- 1.46, 2.15 +/- 0.9, and 2.49 +/- 1.50 min with 10, 25, and 50 mM histidine, respectively. The duration of sinus rhythm increased from 6.26 +/- 1.56 min in I/R hearts to 10.66 +/- 1.55, 14.99 +/- 1.61, and 17.18 +/- 0.95, and 11.73 +/- 0.93 min after perfusion with 10, 25, and 50 mM histidine, and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-catalase-mannitol, respectively. Electron microscopy revealed significant ultrastructural damage of myocytes in I/R hearts, which included swelling of the mitochondria and disruption of both the sarcolemma and the myofibrils. Histidine reduced the ultrastructural damage in a dose-dependent fashion. In general, the protective effect of histidine was superior than SOD-catalase-mannitol. We conclude that histidine protects myocardium against I/R damage most likely by a singlet oxygen scavenging mechanism.