[Ischemic myocardial metabolism and antianginal drugs]

The effect of several kinds of antianginal drugs: nitrates, coronary vasodilators, beta-adrenergic blocking agents and calcium entry blocking agents on the myocardial metabolism and myocardial acidosis during ischemia was studied in the dog heart in vivo. Ischemia was induced by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Ischemia accelerated anaerobic metabolism in the myocardium, in which glycogen breakdown, accumulation of glycolytic intermediates, loss of high energy phosphate and tissue acidosis occurred. Nitroglycerin, beta-adrenergic blocking agents such as propranolol, and some calcium entry blocking agents such as diltiazem and flunarizine prevented the myocardial metabolism from shifting to an anaerobic metabolism in spite of ischemia. However, coronary vasodilators and the dihydropyridine type of calcium entry blocking agents were not capable of reducing changes in the myocardial metabolism and myocardial acidosis during ischemia. The author makes a point in the present review that all the drugs which dilate coronary artery are not always effective on the ischemic myocardium.