Differences in myocardial ischemic tolerance between 1- and 7-day-old rabbits
Between 1 and 7 days of life, the newborn rabbit heart shifts from predominantly using carbohydrates to predominantly using fatty acids as an energy substrate. We therefore used isolated working hearts from 1- or 7-day-old rabbits to determine the effects of fatty acids on myocardial glucose use and the ability of hearts to recover following various periods of transient no-flow ischemia. One-day-old hearts were perfused via the inferior vena cava and ejected buffer through the cannulated aorta and pulmonary artery. Seven-day-old hearts were perfused via the left atrium and ejected buffer through the cannulated aorta. To measure glucose use, hearts were perfused with 11 mM [3H,14C]glucose, 3% albumin, and 500 μU insulin/mL, in the presence or absence of 0.4 mM palmitate. In the absence of fatty acids, glycolytic rates were similar in 1- and 7-day-old hearts, whereas glucose oxidation rates were 5 times greater in 7-day-old hearts. Palmitate did not have any major effects on overall glucose use in 1-day-old hearts, but did markedly inhibit glycolysis and glucose oxidation in 7-day-old hearts. A series of hearts were also subjected to periods (25–60 min) of no-flow ischemia, followed by 30 min of aerobic reperfusion. In the absence of palmitate, 1-day-old hearts subjected to ischemic periods of up to 60 min recovered some degree of mechanical function during reperfusion, whereas 7-day-old rabbit hearts failed to recover if hearts were subjected to ischemic periods of 35 min or longer. Palmitate did not affect reperfusion recovery of 1-day-old rabbit hearts, but did improve recovery of 7-day-old hearts subjected to 40 min of ischemia. This effect in 7-day-old hearts was accompanied by a decrease in tissue lactate during ischemia. In 1-day-old hearts, a greater increase in lactate levels at the end of ischemia was seen, compared with 7-day-old hearts, and the increase was unaffected by the presence or absence of palmitate. These results demonstrate that the sensitivity of the rabbit heart to ischemia increases in the 1st week after birth. This increased sensitivity may be related to a combination of a decrease in glycolytic rates and an increase in sensitivity of hearts to glycolytic product accumulation during ischemia.Key words: newborn, ischemia, heart, fatty acids, glucose.