[Antiarrhythmic and antioxidative effects of intermittent hypoxia exposure on rat myocardium]

The purpose of the study was to observe the effects of intermittent hypoxia exposure (IH) on the arrhythmia and antioxidation with ligation of coronary artery of rat heart together with measuring SOD (superoxide dismutase) and MDA (malondialdehyde) in myocardium. Comparison with continued hypoxia exposure was also made. The results obtained are as follows. (1) Arrhythmia scores of ischemic arrhythmia and reperfusion arrhythmia observed in the rats treated with IH 28-day (IH28) and 42-day (IH42), one week (IH28-1W) and two weeks (IH28-2W) after 28-day IH, as well as in those with continued hypoxia 28-day (CH28) and 42-day (CH42), were significantly lower than controls. (2) SOD in IH28, IH42, CH28, CH42, IH28-1W, IH28-2W and three weeks after 28-day IH were significantly higher than controls; MDA in IH14, IH28, IH42, CH28, CH42, IH28-1W and IH28-2W were significantly lower than controls. It is suggested that IH for 28 or 42 days has some definite antiarrhythmic effect against ischemia and reperfusion, which was related to the strength of antioxidation in myocardium. The antiarrhythmic effects occurred gradually after 14 days IH and persisted for about two weeks after 28 days IH.