Experimental conditions determine effects of ascorbic acid on reperfusion injury: comparison of tissue damage with...

Restoration of coronary blood flow after myocardial ischemia is always a matter of urgency, but the resulting surgical or drug-induced reperfusion of ischemic tissue is often associated with myocardial functional disturbances and tissue injury. The present study was carried out to select experimental conditions under which optimal effects of antioxidants can be observed on the adverse effects of reperfusion of ischemic myocardium. The release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and changes in hemodynamic parameters were compared in two models of cardiac reperfusion injury in rat isolated hearts. LDH release from electrically-stimulated hearts perfused under constant flow and with initial (5 min) reperfusion in calcium-free buffer was greater than that from hearts perfused under constant pressure in which ischemia was induced by reduced flow. Combined SOD+catalase was a weak inhibitor of LDH release in both models, ascorbic acid being more potent under constant pressure than under constant flow conditions. A longer ischemic period enhanced the inhibitory effect of ascorbate. Contractility and ventricular end-diastolic pressure recovered slowly during perfusion under constant flow and brief calcium removal, but remained unphysiological under constant pressure. SOD+catalase had no effect on hemodynamic parameters. Ascorbic acid exacerbated ischemia+reperfusion-induced changes in contractility, ventricular pressure, heart rate and coronary flow under constant pressure, but facilitated recovery of contractility on reperfusion under constant flow and brief calcium removal. In studies on antioxidants, different experimental conditions appear to be necessary to observe beneficial effects on tissue damage on the one hand and on hemodynamics on the other. Mild to moderate ischemia, with sustained pacemaker activity, appears to be the condition under which antioxidants provide hemodynamic improvement. In isolated rat hearts, biochemical parameters of tissue damage may be misleading for the effects of antioxidants.