In the laboratory, the researchers will investigate whether the drug eplerenone improves contractile function after ischemia and reperfusion in heart tissue.
In animal studies, the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist eplerenone appears to limit myocardial infarct size. This cardioprotective effect might explain, at least in part, the beneficial effect on mortality of eplerenone in patients with heart failure. Previous animal studies suggest that this cardioprotective effect is mediated by an increased formation of the endogenous nucleoside adenosine. Our objective is to study for the first time in human myocardial tissue ex vivo wether eplerenone limits ischemia reperfusion injury and whether this is mediated by adenosine receptor stimulation. From patients undergoing open heart surgery, the right atrial appendage will be harvested by the cardiothoracic surgeon. In the laboratory, two trabeculae will be dissected and suspended in an organ bath. Contraction will be induced by electrical field stimulation. Recovery of contractile force after a period of simulated ischemia and reperfusion will be used as an endpoint of ischemia-reperfusion injury. The trabeculae of each patient will be randomized to pretreatment with A)ischemic preconditioning (IP) of no IP as a positive control experiment; B)eplerenone or vehicle; C)eplerenone with or without caffeine; and D)aldosterone with and without eplerenone.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
24
eplerenone administered ex vivo (to the organ bath in which human atrial tissue is exposed)
Radboud University Medical Centre
Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands
contractile function after simulated ischemia and reperfusion in response to eplerenone
The recovery of contractile function (% of baseline) in human myocardial tissue after simulated ischemia and reperfusion in 2 trabeculae will be compared: 1 of the trabeculae will be exposed to eplerenone, the other to vehicle. We will use the experimental set up as described by Speechly-Dick et al. with small modifications to allow simultaneous measurement of 2 trabeculae from 1 patient. The two trabeculae will be dissected and vertically suspended in an organ bath and linked to a force transducer. During electrical field stimulation, we will calculate the developed force (difference between maximal tension during contraction and minimal tension during relaxation), maximal speed of tension development during contraction and maximal speed of tension during relaxation. We will average these parameters for baseline, and during the experiment. Functional recovery will be expressed as a percentage of baseline.
Time frame: 210 minutes
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