The mechanism of myocardial reperfusion injury in neonates

Oxygen free radicals and phospholipid degradation have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemia and reperfusion injury. The present study examines the involvement of such mechanisms in myocardial reperfusion injury in neonatal hearts. The isolated neonatal pig hearts from two different age groups, 0 to 2 days old (newborn) and 7 to 9 days old (week-old), were subjected to 60 min of normothermic global ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion. Although myocardial ischemia reduced superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in both age groups, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities remained significantly lower in the newborn pig heart during ischemia and reperfusion. Oxidized glutathione release from the neonatal pig hearts was at minimum levels before ischemia, but it increased 10-fold at the onset of reperfusion and was significantly higher in the newborn heart. This indicates that generation of oxygen free radicals was enhanced in the newborn compared with that in the week-old heart. The increase in phospholipase A2 activity and decrease in acyl CoA synthetase and lysophosphatidylcholine acyl transferase activities during ischemia and reperfusion were associated with comparable loss of membrane phospholipids and accumulation of lysophosphatidylcholine and free fatty acids in both age groups, except that oleic acid content was significantly higher in the newborn heart during reperfusion. Myocardial damage appears to be potentiated in the newborn heart during reperfusion, as evidenced by higher release of creatine kinase and a lower content of high-energy phosphates. These results indicate that oxygen free radicals may play a crucial role in the occurrence of reperfusion injury in immature hearts.