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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ modulates substrate metabolism and inflammatory responses. In experimental rats subjected to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR), thiazolidinedione PPAR-γ activators reduce infarct size and preserve left ventricular function. Troglitazone is the only PPAR-γ activator that has been shown to be protective in I/R in large animals. However, because troglitazone contains both α-tocopherol and thiazolidinedione moieties, whether PPAR-γ activation per se is protective in myocardial I/R in large animals remains uncertain. To address this question, 56 pigs were treated orally for 8 wk with troglitazone (75 mg·kg-1·day-1), rosiglitazone (3 mg·kg-1·day-1), or α-tocopherol (73 mg·kg-1·day-1, equimolar to troglitazone dose) or received no treatment. Pigs were then anesthetized and subjected to 90 min of low-flow regional myocardial ischemia and 90 min of reperfusion. Myocardial expression of PPAR-γ, determined by ribonuclease protection assay, increased with troglitazone and rosiglitazone compared with no treatment. Rosiglitazone had no significant effect on myocardial contractile function (Frank­Starling relations), substrate uptake, or expression of proinflammatory cytokines during I/R compared with untreated pigs. In contrast, preservation of myocardial contractile function and lactate uptake were greater and cytokine expression was attenuated in pigs treated with troglitazone or α-tocopherol compared with untreated pigs. Multivariate analysis indicated that presence of an α-tocopherol, but not a thiazolidinedione, moiety in the test compound was significantly related to greater contractile function and lactate uptake and lower cytokine expression during I/R. We conclude that PPAR-γ activation is not protective in a porcine model of myocardial I/R. Protective effects of troglitazone are attributable to its α-tocopherol moiety. These findings, in conjunction with prior rat studies, suggest interspecies differences in the response to PPAR-γ activation in the heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pores have recently been implicated as a potential mediator of myocardial ischemic injury. Nitric oxide (NO) donors induce a poweful late phase of cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury; however, the cellular mechanisms involved are poorly understood. The role of MPT pores as a target of cardioprotective signaling pathways activated by NO has never been explored in detail. Thus mice were administered the NO donor diethylenetriamine (DETA)/NO (4 doses of 0.1 mg/kg iv each) 24 h before 30 min of coronary artery occlusion followed by 24 h of repeffusion. Infarct size was significantly reduced in DETA/NO-treated ngne (30 ± 2% of risk region in treated mice vs 50 ± 2% in control mice; P < 0.05), which demonstrates powerful cardioprotection. To examine the role of MPT pores, mice were administered atractyloside (Atr; 25 mg/kg iv), which induces adenine nucleotide translocase-dependent MPT, 20 min before ischemia. Atr blocked the infarct-sparing effects of DETA/NO (infarct size, 58 ± 1 vs, 30 ± 2% of risk region in DETA/NO; P < 0.05), whereas Atr alone had no effect. Mitochondria isolated from DETA/NO-treated mice exhibited increased resistance to Ca2+-thdueed swelling by 20 μmol/l CaCl2 or by the higher concentration of 200 μmol/l, which suggests that cardioprotection involves decreased propensity for MPT. Preincubation of mitochondria from control hearts with 30 nmol/l of the pore inhibitor cyclosporin A prevented swelling by 200 μmol/l CaCl2, thereby confirming that Ca2+ induces mitochondrial swelling via MPT. In accordance with the effects on infarct size, administration of Atr to the mice significantly abrogated DETA/NO-induced protection against Ca2+-induced mitochondrial swelling. These phenotypic alterations were associated with an increase in the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, which suggests that the underlying mechanisms may involve inhibition of cell death by Bcl-2. These data suggest that a critical process during NO donor-induced cardioprotection is to prevent MPT pore opening potentially via targeting of the adenine nucleotide translocator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]