[Preventive effect of endothelin-1 mRNA antisense oligonucleotide on acute myocardial ischemic arrhythmia in rats]

Acute myocardial ischemia was induced by occlusion of the anterior descending of left coronary artery (LAD) in rats; the resultant arrhythmia in 1 h after LAD occlusion was evaluated. In order to prevent expression of endothelin-1 mRNA, human endothelin-1 mRNA antisense oligonucleotide (ET-1 AS-ODN) was intravenously injected 2 h before LAD occlusion. The effect of AS-ODN on plasma ET-1 concentration and the acute ischemic arrhythmia were observed. The results showed that plasma ET-1 was significantly decreased in rats pretreated with AS-ODN, and both the incidence and severity of the acute ischemic arrhythmia were decreased dose-dependently as compared with normal saline control and sense oligonucleotide control, indicating that ET-1 AS-ODN could prevent acute myocardial ischemic arrhythmia and that endogenous endothelin-1 may play an important role in the development of acute ischemic arrhythmia in rats.