[Prevention of stress injury to the heart and its hypoxic contracture by using the natural antioxidant alpha-tocopherol].

Experiments on the isolated hearts of rats, subjected to emotional and painful stress have shown it to potentiate the ischaemic and hypoxic damage of the heart, evaluated by the loss of CPK enzyme by the myocardium and the degree of hypoxic contracture. Preliminary administration to animals of alpha-tocopherol prevents contractility disorders of the heart provoked by stress and the potentiating effect of stress on the ischaemic damage and the development of hypoxic contracture. alpha-Tocopherol also limits the damaging action of hypoxia on the heart and that of reoxygenation. The data obtained suggest the possibility of alpha-tocopherol use in the treatment of myocardial infarction.