Effect of perezone on arrhythmias and markers of cell injury during reperfusion in the anesthetized rat

In the in vivo rat heart model with transient (5 min) regional ischemia, as induced by left coronary artery ligation, we have demonstrated that perezo ne reduces dramatically the incidence of reperfusion-induced-arrhythmias. A dministered 5 minutes before coronary occlusion, at a dose of 3.1 mg/kg, th is drug effectively protects against the high incidence of arrhythmias and the fall of blood pressure. In addition, it inhibits the release of lactic dehydrogenase and creatine-kinase enzymes to the plasma. We propose that th e protective effect of perezone might be related to its well documented act ion of promoting the release of intramitochondrial Ca2+, thus, maintaining ATP production during reperfusion.