Improvement of the energy status of hypoxic hepatocytes by calcium channel blockers.

Isolated hepatocytes from rat liver in primary culture rapidly lost viability under hypoxic conditions. Hypoxic injury was significantly decreased by the calcium channel blockers nifedipine (5 microM) and diltiazem (10 microM). The concentrations of the inhibitors which afforded maximum protection also produced the maximum increase in the energy level of the hypoxic hepatocytes, as evidenced by their ATP, ADP, AMP, and total adenine nucleotide content and by their energy charge. The increased hypoxic energy level caused by these calcium channel blocking agents was not due to an increased rate of anaerobic glycolysis; nifedipine did not have any effect on lactate production while diltiazem slightly decreased its rate. During the first 2 h under hypoxic conditions the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration remained constant around 100 nM, subsequently increasing to 400 nM first slowly and later more rapidly. The calcium channel blockers delayed the Ca2+ increase by about 1 h but were without any effect on the rate of this increase. The results suggest that the well-known beneficial effects of calcium channel blockers on hypoxic liver injury are due in large measure to an improved energetic situation of the hepatocytes rather than to the increase in the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration being blocked.