Can reactive oxygen species precondition the isolated rat heart against arrhythmias and stunning?

Ischaemic preconditioning has cardioprotective effects. Reactive oxygen species may be possible mediators. The present study investigated whether low doses of exogenous hydrogen peroxide could mimic preconditioning in isolated, Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. Hearts were subjected to two episodes of 3 min global ischaemia and 5 min reperfusion (n = 17), or were given 10 (n = 15), 20 (n = 10), 30 (n = 20), 40 (n = 18), 80 (n = 17) or 160 microM (n = 10) hydrogen peroxide for 10 min, followed by 10 min recovery, before 25 min global ischaemia and 60 min reperfusion, and compared with ischaemic controls of matching perfusion time (n = 17 and n = 23). Cardiac performance was assessed by heart rate, left ventricular systolic, end-diastolic and developed pressures, and coronary flow. Severe reperfusion arrhythmias occurred frequently in control hearts, and was attenuated by ischaemic preconditioning. All hearts pretreated with 160 microM hydrogen peroxide had severe arrhythmias throughout reperfusion, while these were not seen in any heart perfused with 20 microM hydrogen peroxide (P < 0.01 compared to controls). Ischaemia and reperfusion induced a minor decrease in heart rate, left ventricular systolic and developed pressures, and increased end-diastolic pressure. Ischaemic preconditioning attenuated the decrease of heart rate and the increase of end-diastolic pressure, and increased coronary flow, while hydrogen peroxide did not significantly attenuate these changes. In conclusion, a low dose of exogenous hydrogen peroxide before global ischaemia inhibited severe reperfusion arrhythmias, but had no other protective effects. The present work does not suggest that reactive oxygen species are important mediators of the preconditioning effects on stunning and arrhythmias in the rat heart.