CARDIOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SUCCINATE AGAINST ISCHEMIA REPERFUSION INJURY/

We investigated the protective effects of succinate, which is a respir atory substrate and a potential antioxidant, on myocardial ischemia/re perfusion injury with the whole heart. Isolated rat hearts were loaded with 25-min normothermic global ischemia followed by 30-min reperfusi on in a working heart model, Succinate administered either before repe rfusion or added to the cardioplegic solution improved the postischemi c cardiac function significantly, The hearts arrested with succinate-s upplemented cardioplegic solution replenished high-energy phosphates a nd maintained the total adenine nucleotides during the reperfusion per iod, whereas those arrested with succinate-nonsupplemented cardioplegi c solution replenished the high-energy phosphates less, and also lost total adenine nucleotides during that period, We thus conclude that su ccinate administered before reperfusion may decrease the degree of mit ochondrial damage during reperfusion and thereby reduce the amount of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.