Reduced Efficacy of Volatile Anesthetic Preconditioning with Advanced Age in Isolated Rat Myocardium

BACKGROUND: Ischemic preconditioning and anesthetic preconditioning (APC) are reported to decrease myocardial infarct size during ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, the beneficial effects of ischemic preconditioning have been shown to decrease with advancing age. Although the mechanisms of ischemic preconditioning and APC are thought to be similar, it is not known whether the beneficial effects of APC are also reduced in the aged myocardium. METHODS: Male Fischer 344 rats of three age groups (2-4, 10-12, and 20-24 months) were used. Hearts were Langendorff perfused. Six hearts in each age group were pretreated with 10 min of sevoflurane and a 5-min washout before 25 min of ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion. Six control hearts in each age group received no treatment before ischemia. Nuclear magnetic resonance was used to measure intracellular Na, intracellular Ca, and intracellular pH, respectively. Left ventricular developed pressure, creatine kinase, and infarct size were measured. RESULTS: Ischemia decreases intracellular pH and increases intracellular Na and intracellular Ca in all age groups. APC blunts the pH decreases in young adult and middle-aged rats, but not in aged rats. APC decreased intracellular Na and intracellular Ca accumulation during ischemia in young adult and middle-aged hearts. APC improved adenosine triphosphate recovery in young rats but not in aged rats. Creatine kinase and infarct sizes were significantly reduced and left ventricular developed pressure was improved with APC in the young adult and middle-aged groups but not the aged group. CONCLUSIONS: The benefits of APC are significantly reduced with advanced age in an isolated rat heart model.