Protective effects of levosimendan and ulinastain on the isolated rabbit heart / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveLevosimendan,a new calcium ion sensitizer,is currently used in the treatment of heart failure and as an option for patients with injury to the left heart or at high risk for surgery.The study tried to evaluate the effects of levosimendan and ulinastain for protecting myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury to the isolated immature rabbit hearts and investigate the possible mechanism.MethodsFifty New Zealand long-ear white immature rabbits were anesthetized and heparinized.Their hearts were rapidly removed and mounted on modified Langendorff apparatus.A left ventricle pressure monitoring line was inserted through the left atrial and mitral valve.The hearts were equilibrated with oxygenated K-H solution at 37℃ for 10 minutes.The rabbit hearts were randomly divided into 5 groups with 10 hearts in each group.Hearts in group C were perfused with K-H solution,in group U were perfused with ulinastain (50000 U/kg),in group LI were perfused with Levosimendan 0.1 μmol/L,in group L2 were perfused with Levosimendan 0.3 μmol/L,and in group L + U were perfused with Ulinastain (50 000 U/kg) and Levosimendan 0.1μmol/L.The hearts were arrested with St-Thomas solution for 30 min.Hearts in each group underwent 30 min-reperfusion with the same solutions after 30 min-global myocardial ischemia.Heart rate ( HR) Jeft ventricular pressure ( LVP) and LVdp/dtMax were monitored.Effluent from coronary sinus was collected at time of ischemia /reperfusion for measuring the concentration of TNF-α,IL-6,CK and cTnI.ResultsLVP and LVdp/dt in group L1,L2 and L + U were better than those in group C and U.But the heart rates in group L2 were higher than in other groups.Concentrations of CK,cTnI,TNF-α and IL-6 in the effluent from coronary sinus at 0、10 and 30 min of reperfusion were significantly lower in group L + U than in the other groups.ConclusionLevosimendan may have the similar effects with ulinastain in reducing the reperfusion injury to the immature myocardium.The protective effect of levosimendan (0.1 μmol/L) in combination with ulinastain (50 000 U/kg) was better than that of levosimendan or ulinastain alone.