Effect of preconditioning on ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum of rat heart

The effect of varying the number of preconditioning (PC) episodes on the recovery of cardiac function and on the function of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was investigated to determine the correlation between the effect of PC and SR function. Isolated rat hearts were subjected to zero to three 5-min episodes of global ischemia with intermittent perfusion (PC0-PC3) followed by 25 min of ischemia (I) and 30 min of reperfusion. The left ventricular (LV) pressure and SR 45Ca2+ uptake in the absence or presence of ryanodine were then measured. The increase in LV end-diastolic pressure and the incidence and duration of ventricular tachyarrhythmias during reperfusion decreased. The recovery of LV developed pressure, LV dP/dtmax and dP/dtmin, increased as the number of episodes of PC increased. The rates of SR 45Ca2+ uptake after PC and after reperfusion were lower in PC3 than in PC0. Conversely, the rate of 45Ca2+ uptake after I did not differ between PC0 and PC3. The ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ release increased after I, and additional increases were observed during reperfusion in PC0, whereas the release after I and reperfusion decreased progressively in PC3. These observations show that the beneficial effects of PC are associated with a decrease in ryanodine-sensitive SR Ca2+ release.