Effects of allopurinol on myocardial ischemic injury induced by coronary artery ligation and reperfusion.

The effects of allopurinol pretreatment (1 mg/ml in the drinking water for 7 days at an estimated daily dose of 75 mg/kg) on biochemical and chemical changes occurring following left circumflex coronary artery ligation (40 min) and reperfusion (60 min) were examined in pentobarbital-anesthetized rabbits. During the ischemic phase, allopurinol pretreatment provided significant preservation of cellular ATP levels and of mitochondrial ATP generation as compared with untreated animals (P less than 0.05). During the reperfusion phase, allopurinol pretreatment significantly prevented the decrease in left ventricular pressure, sodium and calcium accumulation and decreases in sarcolemmal Na+,K+-stimulated and sarcoplasmic reticulum K+,Ca2+-stimulated ATPase activities as compared with untreated animals (P less than 0.05). In contrast, the decrease in mitochondrial (azide-sensitive) ATPase during ischemia and the partial recovery during reperfusion were unaffected by allopurinol pretreatment. Our results indicate that the myocardial protective effects of allopurinol may differ mechanistically in the ischemic and reperfusion phases of injury. The fact that rabbit hearts do not contain detectable xanthine oxidase activity would seem to preclude an obligatory role of this enzyme both in the generation of myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury and in the protective actions of allopurinol.