Myocardial relaxation. I. Effect of nitroprusside on the tension prolongation phenomenon.

The effects of nitroprusside and cyanide on myocardial relaxation were studied during hypoxia and reoxygenation of isolated rat papillary muscle, and during segmental ischemia and reperfusion in the intact dog heart. Nitroprusside did not affect isolated muscle performance before or during hypoxia. During reoxygenation of hypoxic muscles, the tension prolongation phenomenon (which characterizes abnormal or prolonged relaxation) was only slightly attenuated by the addition of nitroprusside to the muscle bath; in contrast, cyanide (at concentrations that did not prevent the return of tension) abolished tension prolongation during reoxygenation. During reperfusion of ischemic segments in intact hearts, the prolongation of segment tension was not affected by systemic administration of nitroprusside, but was abolished by intracoronary cyanide. Attenuation of the tension prolongation phenomenon by nitroprusside in the isolated muscle may be due to the liberation of cyanide. Inasmuch as nitroprusside did not affect the tension prolongation phenomenon in the intact heart, it is unlikely that the influence of this drug on left ventricular diastolic compliance is mediated through an alteration in the tension prolongation phenomenon.