Effects of sevoflurane delayed preconditioning on caspase recruitment domain expression during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion in rats

Objective To investigate the effects of sevoflurane delayed preconditioning on caspase recruitment domain (ARC) expression during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats. Methods Sixty-four adult male SD rats weighing 270-350 g were randomly divided into 4 groups ( n = 16 each): sham operation (group S); myocardial I/R group; sevoflurane + sham operation group (group S-S) and sevoflurane delayed preconditioning + myocardial I/R group (group S-I/R) . Myocardial I/R was induced by occlusion of anterior descending branch of left coronary artery for 30 min followed by 2 h of reperfusion in groups I/R and S-I/R. Group S-S inhaled 33% oxygen for 2 h, and sham operation was performed 24 h later. Group S-I/R inhaled 2.5% sevoflurane for 2 h, and then myocardial I/R was induced 24 h later. Eight animals were sacrificed at the end of 2 h reperfusion in each group and the hearts removed for determination of myocardial infarct size (IS) as a percentage of area at risk (AAR) by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride staining (IS/AAR) . Myocardial apoptosis was detected using TUNEL and apoptosis index was calculated. Another 4 animals were sacrificed immediately before ischemia and at the end of 2 h reperfusion to determine the expression of ARC and Caspase-8 in myocardium by Western blot. Results Compared with group S, the infarct size and apoptosis index were significantly increased in groups I/R and S-I/R, and ARC expression was up-regulated immediately before ischemia in groups S-S and S-I/R, and Caspase-8 expression was up-regulated at 2 h of reperfusion in group I/R ( P ＜ 0.05) . Compared with group I/R, the infarct size and apoptosis index were significantly decreased in group S-I/R, and ARC expression was up-regulated, while Caspase-8 expression was down-regulated at 2 h of reperfusion in groups S-S and S-I/R ( P ＜ 0.05) . Conclusion Sevoflurane delayed preconditioning can attenuate myocardial I/R injury through up-regulating the ARC expression and decreasing the myocardial apoptosis. Key words: Ischemic preconditioning, myocardial;  Apoptosis regulatory proteins;  Myocardial reperfusion injury;  Sevoflurane