Chronic alcohol consumption causes accelerated myocardial preconditioning to ischemia-reperfusion injury

We have previously demonstrated that chronic alcohol consumption (8 to 10 weeks with ethanol as 36% of the caloric intake) does not exacerbate the effects of ischemia reperfusion injury on the heart. In those same studies, however, Gram-negative sepsis caused myocardial depression in both control and alcoholic rats, but also protected hearts from further damage due to ischemia-reperfusion. In the present study, we determined if preconditioning, a very short ischemia-reperfusion episode that protects the heart from more prolonged ischemia, would have similar effects on hearts from alcoholic and control rats with or without sepsis. Thus, rats were fed a liquid diet supplemented with ethanol or dextrin for 8 to 10 weeks. Some alcoholic and control rats were made septic with Escherichia coli injected into the subcutaneous space, whereas others received an injection of sterile saline. Isolated, isovolumically beating hearts were studied the following day. Hearts were made ischemic for 5 min, reperfused for 5 min, and then made ischemic for 35 min and reperfused for 25 min. Data from similar groups of hearts receiving only 35 min ischemia, and studied at the same time as the present groups, have been previously reported. The 5-min preconditioning episode was more effective in protecting hearts in the alcohol group than in the control group. Postischemic left ventricular developed pressure and +dP/dtmax were not significantly decreased from the preischemic values in the alcohol group, but were significantly decreased in the control group. The time to recovery of spontaneous contractions was decreased by preconditioning in the alcohol group but not in the control group, and the recovery of coronary flow was enhanced in the alcohol group, but not in the control group by pre-conditioning. Thus a single 5-min ischemic procedure was effective in protecting the heart from prolonged ischemia in the alcohol group, whereas it was not sufficient to elicit protection in the control group. Sepsis depressed preischemic function in both groups, but recovery from ischemia was complete.