Reduction of acute myocardial ischemia in rabbit hearts by nafazatrom

The effects of oral nafazatrom pretreatment (10 mg/kg, twice a day, for 10 days) on myocardial ischemia were studied in the rabbit heart during 6-h occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). The tension-time index (TTI), hemodynamics, and ischemia size were determined (Evan's blue-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining with planimetry). In drug-vehicle controls, left ventricular (LV) and peripheral pressures and LV dP/dtmax decreased, while heart rate, end-diastolic pressure, the TTI, and electrocardiographic ST segments increased. Hemodynamics were nearly unaltered in the nafazatrom-pretreated animals, except for a heart rate elevation during the initial phase of LAD occlusion. In drug-treated hearts, 45 +/- 6% of the LAD perfusion region at risk was ischemic, showing a patchy distribution. In vehicle controls, 82 +/- 4% (p less than 0.02 vs. nafazatrom pretreatment) of the LAD-perfused myocardial regions was transmurally ischemic, showing a uniform pattern. Thus, nafazatrom pretreatment prevented most hemodynamic changes following LAD occlusion in the rabbit heart. Significant amounts of the muscle remained normoxic within the nonperfused arterial regions. These results indicate that the inhibition of lipoxygenase enzymes by nafazatrom may delay the development of ischemic damage to the heart following acute coronary artery occlusion.