Anti-arrhythmic protection by ischaemic preconditioning in isolated rat hearts is not due to depletion of endogenous catecholamines

OBJECTIVES: The present study addresses whether the mechanism of anti-arrhythmic protection by ischaemic preconditioning involves depletion of myocardial catecholamines. METHODS: In a randomised series of studies isolated rat hearts, perfused with whole blood, underwent episodes of regional ischaemia and reperfusion induced with a snare around the left coronary artery. Control hearts (Group 1, n = 12) were subjected to 40 min aerobic perfusion, 30 min ischaemia and 10 min reperfusion. Preconditioned hearts (Group 2, n = 12) were subjected to 10 min aerobic perfusion, three cycles of ischaemia and reperfusion (5 min each), 30 min ischaemia and 10 min reperfusion. Cardiac rhythm was recorded continuously and arrhythmias quantified during the final periods of ischaemia and reperfusion. At the end of the experiment samples of right ventricular (RV; non-ischaemic) and left ventricular (LV; ischaemic territory) tissue were separated and frozen. In 5 additional groups (n = 6/group) tissue samples were taken after 10 min aerobic perfusion, after 10 min aerobic perfusion followed by 1, 2 or 3 preconditioning cycles and after 40 min of aerobic perfusion. All tissue samples were analysed for catecholamine content. RESULTS: Preconditioning resulted in reductions in the incidence of ischaemia-induced VF from 67% in Group 1 to 8% in Group 2, the incidence of ischaemia-induced VT from 100% to 17% and the number of ischaemia-induced VPBs from 246 +/- 25 to 59 +/- 19 (each P < 0.05). The mean content of noradrenaline and adrenaline was consistently higher in RV than LV tissue. Within the LV, however, neither preconditioning nor prolonged ischaemia had any significant effect upon tissue catecholamine content at any time in the experimental protocol. CONCLUSIONS: Depletion of myocardial catecholamines is not involved in the mechanism of anti-arrhythmic protection by ischaemic preconditioning in isolated rat hearts.