Pioglitazone attenuates acute cocaine toxicity in rat isolated heart: potential protection by metabolic modulation.

Background: The authors tested whether cocaine depresses mitochondrial acylcarnitine exchange and if a drug that enhances glucose metabolism could protect against cocaine-induced cardiac dysfunction.

Methods: Oxygen consumption with and without cocaine was compared in rat cardiac mitochondria using octanoylcarnitine (lipid) or pyruvate (nonlipid) substrates. Isolated hearts from rats with or without a pioglitazone-supplemented diet were exposed to cocaine.

Adding bupivacaine to high-potassium cardioplegia improves function and reduces cellular damage of rat isolated hearts after prolonged, cold storage.

Background: Bupivacaine retards myocardial acidosis during ischemia. The authors measured function of rat isolated hearts after prolonged storage to determine whether bupivacaine improves cardiac protection compared with standard cardioplegia alone.

Methods: After measuring cardiac function on a Langendorff apparatus, hearts were perfused with cardioplegia alone (controls), cardioplegia containing 500 microm bupivacaine, or cardioplegia containing 2 mm lidocaine; were stored at 4 degrees C for 12 h; and were then reperfused.