Delayed exercise-induced protection against arrhythmias in dogs—effect of celecoxib

Abstract A 20-min period of treadmill exercise in dogs, sufficient to increase heart rate by 90–100 beats min −1 , markedly decreases the severity of the life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias that result when, following anaesthesia 24 h later, the left coronary artery is occluded. This protection was unaffected by the administration of the selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib (two times 3 mg kg −1 given intravenously). These results show that prostacyclin, derived from cyclooxygenase-2, plays no role in this pronounced delayed cardioprotection.