Heat shock protein induction in rat hearts. A role for improved myocardial salvage after ischemia and reperfusion?

BACKGROUND To test the hypothesis that the heat shock response is associated with improved myocardial salvage after myocardial ischemia and reperfusion, rats treated with prior whole-body hyperthermia and 24 hours of recovery (n = 26) or 20 minutes of ischemic pretreatment and 8 hours of recovery (n = 24) and control rats (n = 27, n = 24, for hyperthermic and ischemic pretreatment, respectively) were subjected to 35 minutes of left coronary artery (LCA) occlusion and 120 minutes of reperfusion. METHODS AND RESULTS Although ventricular samples from rats subjected to either hyperthermia (n = 7) or ischemic pretreatment (n = 6) all showed induction of HSP72 (heat shock protein), Western blot analysis revealed significantly greater amounts of HSP72 in samples obtained from rats subjected to hyperthermia compared with those from rats subjected to ischemic pretreatment. Control rats (n = 7) showed no significant presence of myocardial HSP72. After 35 minutes of LCA occlusion and 2 hours of reperfusion, infarct size was significantly reduced in heat-shocked rats compared with controls (8.4 +/- 1.7%, n = 26 versus 15.5 +/- 1.9%, n = 27; p = 0.007; mean +/- SEM; infarct mass/left ventricular mass x 100). There were no significant differences in left ventricular (LV) systolic pressure, heart rate, LV dP/dt, or rate-pressure product between heat-shocked (n = 11) and control (n = 14) rats during the ischemic period. There were no differences in infarct size between ischemically pretreated and control rats subjected to 35 minutes of ischemia and reperfusion (9.7 +/- 2.1%, n = 23 versus 10.0 +/- 2.1, n = 24; p = NS). CONCLUSIONS In this model of ischemia and reperfusion, prior heat shock was associated with significantly improved myocardial salvage after 35 minutes of LCA occlusion and reperfusion. This improved salvage was correlated with marked HSP72 induction and was independent of the hemodynamic determinants of myocardial oxygen supply and myocardial oxygen demand during the ischemic period. In contrast, mild HSP72 induction by ischemic pretreatment was not associated with improved myocardial salvage after myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Thus, the absolute levels of HSP72 may be important in conferring protection from ischemic injury in this animal model.