Carvedilol (Kredex®) Reduces Infarct Size in a Canine Model of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Carvedilol (Kredex®) is a multiple action, antihypertensive agent that may also prove to be useful in the treatment of angina and congestive heart failure. Carvedilol combines in one molecule both β-adrenoceptor blocking and vasodilating activities. Inasmuch as β-adrenoceptor blocking agents are known to be cardioprotective and thereby reduce infarct size, it is logical to assume that carvedilol, likewise, would possess this desirable activity. Furthermore, the additional vasodilating activity of carvedilol could contribute to further reductions in infarct size by reducing myocardial work (and therefore myocardial oxygen demand) through reductions in both afterload and myocardial wall tension. As such, we have investigated the ability of carvedilol to reduce infarct size in a canine model of acute myocardial infarction. Carvedilol (1 mg/kg i.v.) or its vehicle, dimethylformamide, were administered 15 min before left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) occlusion. Following 1 h of LCX occlusion, dogs were reperfused through a critical stenosis and then allowed to recover for 24 h. Carvedilol-treated animals exhibited a 78% reduction in infarct size compared to vehicle controls, such that the percentage of the left ventricle infarcted was reduced significantly from 16.2 ± 4.1 % in control animals to 3.6 ± 1.3% in animals treated with carvedilol (p = 0.017, n = 6). Stained tissue sections of the left ventricle were photographed, digitized and color-enhanced using an Image Analysis Computer System, and three-dimensional reconstruction of the left ventricle, including the infarcted areas, was performed. Individual color-enhanced planar sections of the left ventricle showed clearly that carvedilol dramatically reduced the area of infarction, and three-dimensional reconstruction of the left ventricle illustrated a striking reduction in the volume of the infarcted area in carvedilol-treated dogs. These data demonstrate clearly that carvedilol can markedly reduce infarct size in a canine model of acute myocardial infarction. This cardioprotective effect may result in addition clinical benefit in patients treated with carvedilol for hypertension, angina or congestive heart failure.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: