Exercise preconditioning initiates late cardioprotection against isoproterenol-induced myocardial injury in rats independent of protein kinase C

The objective of this study was to investigate the late cardioprotective effect of exercise preconditioning (EP) on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial injury in rats and the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in EP. Rats were injected with ISO 24 h after running on a treadmill for four periods of 10 min each at 28–30 m/min with intervening periods of rest of 10 min. Nonselective PKC inhibitor chelerythrine (CHE) was injected before EP. The myocardial injury was evaluated quantitatively in terms of the serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels, the myocardial ischemia/hypoxia area, and the integral optical density (IOD) of haematoxylin–basic fuchsin–picric acid (HBFP) staining, and qualitatively in terms of the myocardial ultrastructure. EP markedly attenuated the ISO-induced myocardial ischemia/hypoxia and ultrastructural damage with lower serum cTnI levels. CHE injection before EP did not block the protective effect of EP, displaying a mild myocardial ischemia/hypoxia and well-preserved ultrastructure with even lower serum cTnI levels. The results indicate that EP can exert a late cardioprotection against ISO-induced myocardial injury, and that an injection of the nonselective PKC inhibitor CHE before EP may have a different effect on ISO-induced myocardial injury. Further investigation needs to be conducted to define the role of different PKC isozymes in EP by using isozyme-selective inhibitors.