Evidence that the adenosine A3 receptor may mediate the protection afforded by preconditioning in the isolated rabbit heart.

OBJECTIVE

Agonists selective for the A1 adenosine receptor mimic the protective effect of ischaemic preconditioning against infarction in the rabbit heart. Unselective adenosine antagonists block this protection but, paradoxically, the A1 adenosine receptor selective antagonist 8-cyclopentyl- 1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX) does not. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the newly described A3 adenosine receptor, which has an agonist profile similar to the A1 receptor but is insensitive to DPCPX, might mediate preconditioning.

METHODS

Isolated rabbit hearts perfused with Krebs buffer experienced 30 min of regional ischaemia followed by 120 min of reperfusion. Infarct size was measured by tetrazolium staining.

RESULTS

In control hearts infarction was 32.2(SEM 1.5)% of the risk zone. Preconditioning by 5 min ischaemia and 10 min reperfusion reduced infarct size to 8.8(2.3)%. Replacing the regional ischaemia with 5 min perfusion with 10 microM adenosine or 65 nM N6-[2-(4-aminophenyl)ethyl]adenosine (APNEA), an adenosine A3 receptor agonist, was equally protective. The unselective antagonist 8-p-sulphophenyl theophylline at 100 microM abolished protection by preconditioning, adenosine, and APNEA, but 200 nM DPCPX did not block protection by any of the interventions. Likewise the potent but unselective A3 receptor antagonist 8-(4-carboxyethenylphenyl)-1,3-dipropylxanthine (BW A1433) completely blocked protection from ischaemic preconditioning.

CONCLUSIONS

Because protection against infarction afforded by ischaemic preconditioning, adenosine, or the A3 receptor agonist APNEA could not be blocked by DPCPX and because the potent A3 receptor antagonist BW A1433 blocked protection from ischaemic preconditioning, these data indicate that the protection of preconditioning is not exclusively mediated by the adenosine A1 receptor in rabbit heart and could involve the A3 receptor.