Serial changes in BMIPP uptake in relation to thallium uptake in the rat myocardium after ischaemia

Several clinical studies have shown that iodine-123 labelled 15-(p-iodophenyl)-3-(R, S)-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) uptake is often lower than the uptake of perfusion tracers in patients with ischaemic heart disease. However, BMIPP accumulation may not decrease during the acute phase of a stunned myocardium in patients with acute coronary syndrome. We evaluated serial changes in BMIPP and perfusion tracer uptake in the myocardium after ischaemia. We performed a 20-min left coronary artery occlusion followed by reperfusion in male Wistar rats. One hour after the reperfusion, echocardiography was performed. Intravenous injection of iodine-125 labelled BMIPP and thallium-201 was performed 1 day (acute group) and 5 days (subacute group) after the operation. To determine the myocardial distribution of 125I-BMIPP and 201Tl, dual-tracer autoradiography was conducted. We identified regions of interest in the anterolateral wall as an area at risk and in the inferoseptum as a remote control area. The anterolateral wall/inferoseptum ratio (A/I ratio) was calculated to compare the distributions of 125I-BMIPP and 201Tl. Coronary occlusion induced hypokinesia in the anterolateral region 1 h after the reperfusion. The A/I ratio of 125I-BMIPP was significantly higher than that of 201Tl in the acute group (1.01 +/- 0.15 vs 0.80 +/- 0.23, P<0.001). On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the A/I ratios of 125I-BMIPP and 201Tl in the subacute group (0.88 +/- 0.18 vs 0.85 +/- 0.18). Two rats showed a significantly lower A/I ratio of 125I-BMIPP than 201Tl in the subacute phase. These data suggest that BMIPP uptake is preserved despite a decrease in perfusion in the acute phase after ischaemia. In the subacute phase, on the other hand, BMIPP uptake is similar to or even lower than thallium uptake. Since BMIPP uptake may change with time after ischaemia, careful interpretation of BMIPP uptake after ischaemia is required in a clinical setting.