Volume 50: 143-152, 2001

Effect of ACE Inhibitor Captopril and L-Arginine on the Metabolism and on Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury of the Isolated Rat Heart

J. DIVIŠOVÁ, H. VAVŘÍNKOVÁ, M. TUTTEROVÁ, L. KAZDOVÁ, E. MESCHIŠVILI


Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

Received March 10, 2000
Accepted July 20, 2000

Summary
We investigated the effects of in vivo treatment with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) captopril and/or of in vitro administration of L-arginine on the metabolism and ischemia-reperfusion injury of the isolated perfused rat myocardium. Captopril (50 mg/l in drinking water, 4 weeks) raised the myocardial content of glycogen. After 25-min global ischemia, captopril treatment, compared with the controls, resulted in lower rates of lactate dehydrogenase release during reperfusion (8.58±1.12 vs. 13.39±1.88 U/heart/30 min, p<0.05), lower myocardial lactate contents (11.34±0.93 vs. 21.22±4.28 µmol/g d.w., p<0.05) and higher coronary flow recovery (by 25 %), and prevented the decrease of NO release into the perfusate during reperfusion. In control hearts L-arginine added to the perfusate (1 mmol/l) 10 min before ischemia had no effect on the parameters evaluated under our experimental conditions, presumably because of sufficient saturation of the myocardium with L-arginine. In the hearts of captopril-treated rats, L-arginine further increased NO production during reperfusion and the cGMP content before ischemia. Our results have shown that long-term captopril treatment increases the energy potential and has a beneficial effect on tolerance of the isolated heart to ischemia. L-arginine added into the perfusate potentiates the effect of captopril on the NO signaling pathway.


Key words
ACE inhibitors · L-arginine · Nitric oxide · Cyclic GMP · Isolated rat heart · Ischemia-reperfusion injury

Reprint requests
J. Divišová, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Vídeňská 1958/9, 140 21 Prague 4, Czech Republic. Fax: 02/6108 3490 E-mail:
jadi@medicon.cz

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
© 2001 by the Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences

ISSN 0862 - 8408

Issue 2