Journal
LIFE SCIENCES
Volume 66, Issue 6, Pages 503-509Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/S0024-3205(99)00620-7
Keywords
melatonin; myocardial ischemia-reperfusion; arrhythmias; infarct size
Ask authors/readers for more resources
There has been increased interest in melatonin recently, since it was shown to be a potent scavenger of toxic free radicals. Melatonin has been found to be effective in protecting against pathological states due to reactive oxygen species release. The present study was performed in order to determine whether melatonin or 5-methoxy-carbonylamino-N-acetyl-tryptamine (5-MCA-NAT), a structurally related indole compound, protect against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the isolated rat heart. Wistar rats were treated in vivo with either melatonin (1 or 10 mg/kg, i.p.) or 5-MCA-NAT (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or their vehicle, 30 min before their hearts were excised and perfused according to the Langendorff technique. Two different protocols were then applied. In the first one, a regional ischemia (5 min) reperfusion (30 min) sequence was performed in order to record incidence and duration of reperfusion arrhythmias. In the second one, infarct size was assessed after a regional ischemia (30 min)-reperfusion (120 min) sequence. Results show a spectacular protection against ischemia-reperfusion injuries (on arrhythmias as well as on infarct size) in rats pre-treated with 10 mg/kg of melatonin or 5-MCA-NAT. In conclusion, both melatonin and its structural analog, 5-MCA-NAT, appear to confer protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the isolated rat heart. This observation suggests that melatonin could have a potential clinical application in the treatment of myocardial ischemia, even if the mechanisms underlying this protection remain to be determined.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available