Effects of diazoxide pretreatment on apoptosis in rat myocardial microvascular endothelial cells exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation

Objective To investigate the effects of diazoxide pretreatment on apoptosis in rat myocardial microvascular endothelial cells exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) . Methods The SD rat myocardial microvascular endothelial cells were cultured. The cells were seeded in 96-well plates (100 μl/hole) or in 6 cm diameter dishes (2 ml/dish) with the density of 1×106/ml and randomly divided into 4 groups ( n = 12 each) : normal con trol group (group C), H/R group, diazoxide pretreatment group (group DZ) and diazoxide pretreatment + 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD, a mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channel blocker) group (group DZ + 5-HD) .The cells were exposed to 2 h hypoxia followed by 2 h reoxygenation. Diazoxide 100 μmol/L and diazoxide 100 μmol/L + 5-HD 100 μmol/L were added to the culture medium 2 h before hypoxia in groups DZ and DZ + 5-HD respectively. The cell viability and apoptotic rate were detected at the end of reoxygenation. Results Compared with group C, the cell viability was significantly decreased, while the apoptotic rate increased in group H/R ( P ＜ 0.01) . Compared with group H/R, the cell viability was significantly increased, while the apoptotic rate decreased in group DZ (P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01) . 5-HD could inhibit diazoxide pretreatment-induced changes mentioned above ( P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01). Conclusion Diazoxide pretreatment can reduce H/R injury through inhibiting apoptosis in rat myocardial microvascular endothelial cells, and the mechanism is related to the activation of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channels. Key words: Diazoxide;  Heart;  Endothelium, vascular; Cell hypoxia;  Oxygen; Apoptosis