Krause, S. M., J. J. Lynch, Jr., Stabilito, II and R. F. Woltmann. Intravenous administration of the endothelin-1 antagonist BQ-123 does not ameliorate myocardial ischaemic injury following acute coronary artery occlusion in the dog. Cardiovasc Res. 28:1672-8., 1994.

OBJECTIVE: It has been proposed that myocardial ischaemic injury is modulated in part by the release of endothelin-1 from the coronary endothelium either during ischaemia or following reperfusion. Release of sufficient amounts of endothelin-1 would result in coronary vasoconstriction and could potentiate ischaemic damage. An endothelin-1 antagonist, BQ-123, was given intravenously to evaluate the role of endothelin-1 in postischaemic injury and determine whether blockade of the ETA receptor would afford protection from ischaemia/reperfusion injury. METHODS: Myocardial injury was induced in anaesthetised dogs using 90 min of left circumflex coronary artery occlusion followed by 4 h of reperfusion. Animals treated with a continuous intravenous infusion of BQ-123 (0.1 mg.kg-1.min-1), begun 10 min before ischaemia and continued throughout ischaemia and reperfusion, were compared to saline treated animals. RESULTS: After 4 h of reperfusion the myocardial infarct size measured by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining was not different between the two groups. Infarct size in the control group was 25.7 (SEM 5.4)% of the area at risk while BQ-123 treatment resulted in an infarct size of 29.2(7.1)% of the area at risk (p = 0.70). Plasma endothelin-1 concentration measured at the coronary sinus was only significantly increased following 5 min of reperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: The intravenous administration of a specific ETA receptor antagonist does not protect against ischaemia/reperfusion injury. These results suggest that endothelin-1 receptor antagonists require access to the area at risk during occlusion to protect the myocardium from ischaemic injury.