The effects of a novel agent that is reported to selectively block Ca2+ influx by Na+/Ca2+ exchange (NCX), KB-R7943, on the reoxygenation-induced arrhythmias and the recovery of developed tension after reoxygenation, were investigated in guinea pig papillary muscles. KB-R7943 dose-dependently suppressed the contracture tension during low-sodium (21.9 mM) perfusion (23+/-8% of steady-state developed tension at 10 microM vs. 56+/-11% in control; n = 6, p<0.05), but did not change action potential and contractile parameters. During the reoxygenation period after 60-min substrate-free hypoxia, KB-R7943 (10 microM) significantly decreased the incidence of arrhythmias (44 vs. 100% in control; n = 9, p <0.05) and shortened the duration of arrhythmias (16+/-11 vs. 72+/-14 s; p<0.01). KB-R7943 (10 microM) significantly enhanced the recovery of developed tension after reoxygenation (83+/-4 vs. 69+/-3% in control; p<0.05). We conclude that KB-R7943 (10 microM) selectively inhibits the reverse mode of NCX, and that it attenuates reoxygenation-induced arrhythmic activity and prevents contractile dysfunction in guinea pig papillary muscles. These results suggest that Ca2+ influx by NCX may play a key role in reoxygenation injury.
To clarify the mechanisms underlying the positive inotropic action of endothelin‐1 (ET‐1), we investigated the effect of ET‐1 on twitch cell shortening and the Ca 2+ transient in rat isolated ventricular myocytes loaded with a fluorescent Ca 2+ indicator indo‐1. There was a cell‐to‐cell heterogeneity in response to ET‐1. ET‐1 (100 n m ) increased twitch cell shortening in only 6 of 14 cells (44 %) and the increase in twitch cell shortening was always accompanied by an increase in the amplitude of the Ca 2+ transient. The ET A ‐ and ET B ‐receptors antagonist TAK‐044 (100 n m ) almost reversed both the ET‐1‐induced increases in twitch cell shortening and in the Ca 2+ transient. In the ET‐1 non‐responding cells, the amplitude of the Ca 2+ transient never increased. Intracellular pH slightly increased (∼0.08 unit) after 30 min perfusion of ET‐1 in rat ventricular myocytes. However, ET‐1 did not change the myofilament responsiveness to Ca 2+ , which was assessed by (1) the relationship between the Ca 2+ transient amplitude and twitch cell shortening, and by (2) the Ca 2+ transient‐cell shortening phase plane diagram during negative staircase. We concluded that there was a cell‐to‐cell heterogeneity in the positive inotropic effect of ET‐1, and that the ET‐receptor‐mediated positive inotropic effect was mainly due to an increase in the Ca 2+ transient amplitude rather than to an increase in myofilament responsiveness to Ca 2+ . British Journal of Pharmacology (1998) 123 , 1343–1350; doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0701743
The increase in the intracellular Na+ concentration ([Na+]i) during myocardial ischaemia is crucial for ischaemia/reperfusion cell injury, and the cardiac subtype of the Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE-1) has been shown to be a major pathway for Na+ loading. While the importance of glycolytically derived ATP for the optimal functioning of membrane transporters and channels has been suggested, whether NHE-1 is actually activated during myocardial ischaemia remains controversial. Here we examined whether the activity of NHE-1 is predominantly dependent on intracellular ATP generated by glycolysis, and whether the additional inhibition of glycolysis can affect the increase in [Na+]i during the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation in intact guinea pig ventricular myocytes. The selective inhibition of glycolysis by 2-deoxyglucose prevented the recovery of intracellular pH and the transient increase in [Na+]i following intracellular acidosis induced by a NH4Cl pre-pulse. During severe metabolic inhibition (SMI; induced by amobarbital and carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone in a glucose-free perfusate), most myocytes changed from rod-shaped to contracted forms by ~ 15 min. [Na+]i increased linearly until rigor contracture occurred, but after rigor contracture the rate of increase was blunted. The increase in [Na+]i during SMI was suppressed significantly by an inhibitor of NHE-1, hexamethylene amiloride. The increase in the intracellular Mg2+ concentration, which can reciprocally indicate depletion of intracellular ATP, was small during the initial 10 min of SMI, but became larger from just a few minutes before rigor contracture. In the presence of 2-deoxyglucose, the time to rigor during SMI was shortened, but the increase in [Na+]i before rigor contracture was not significant, and was much less than that in the absence of 2-deoxyglucose. It is concluded that ATP generated by glycolysis is essential to activate NHE-1, and that the dependence of NHE-1 on glycolysis might affect the increase in [Na+]i observed during myocardial ischaemia.
