A contrast study on sevoflurane preconditioning against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in adult and young rat hearts

Aim To observe and contrast the cardioprotective effect of sevoflurane preconditioning on isolated adult and young rat hearts with ischemia reperfusion injury and explore its possible mechanism.Methods 36 adult male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups(12 each): control group(Sham1),ischemia-reperfusion group(I/R1),sevoflurane preconditioning group(S1);36 young male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups(12 each):control group(Sham2),ischemia-reperfusion group(I/R2),sevoflurane preconditioning group(S2).All hearts were linked to the Langendorff apparatus.Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure(LVEDP),Left ventricular developed pressure(LVDP),±dp/dtmax,Heart rate(HR) were recorded at the end of equilibration and 15 min of reperfusion.Cardiocyte apoptotic index and myocardial infarct size were measured with TUNEL and TTC staining method at 15 min and 60 min of reperfusion respectively.After 15 min of reperfusion,phospho-Akt and total Akt were determined by Western blot analysis.Results No differences in baseline hemodynamics were observed among the groups(P0.05).Compared with group I/R1,group S1 resulted in a significantly improved functional recovery,had a significant increase in HR,LVDP,±dp/dtmax,a decrease in LVEDP and a significant decrease in IS(P0.05). Compared with group I/R2,group S2 resulted in a significantly improved functional recovery, had a significant increase in HR,LVDP,±dp/dtmax,a decrease in LVEDP and a significant decrease in IS(P0.05).Meanwhile,group S also markedly increased the expression of p-Akt compared with group I/R.Conclusion 1MAC sevoflurane preconditioning may effectively protect the hearts against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the adult and young isolated rat hearts by activating PI3K/Akt signal pathway.