Cardioprotection of sevoflurane postconditioning on isolated rat hearts

Aim To observe the protective effect of sevoflurane on reperfused myocardium of isolated rat hearts.Methods 20 male Wistar rat hearts were isolated,linked to a Langendorff apparatus and randomly divided into 2 groups:control group(group A),and sevoflurane postconditioning group(group B).Isolated perfused rat hearts were exposed to 40 min of ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion with modified Kreb-Henseleit(K-H) buffer.Anesthetic postconditioning was induced by 15 min of 1.0 Mac sevoflurane administered at the onset of reperfusion.The left ventricular developed pressure(LVDP),and the maximum rate of increase or decrease of left ventricular pressure(±dp/dtmax) were recorded at the end of the stabilization period,15 min and 60 min after reperfusion.Infarct size was determined by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining.Myocardial TUNEL staining was used in situ cell death detection kit(POD,Roche,Germany).The percentage of TUNEL positive nuclei to all nuclei counted was used as apoptotic index(AI).Results Compared with those of group A,the data of hemodynamics of LVDP,±dp/dtmax,CF and HR of group B were significantly higher but the infarct size and AI of group B were much lower during reperfusion period than those in group A(P0.05).Compared with baseline value,the data of LVDP,±dp/dtmax,CF and HR decreased significantly in both groups(P0.05).Conclusion Anesthetic postconditioning by sevoflurane effectively protected against reperfusion damage by preventing myocardial apoptosis in rat hearts.