The possible mechanism of protection induced by dexamethasone against sudden death due to coronary ligation in conscious rats

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Abstract
Rat isolated peritoneal cells (107 cells ml−1) incubated in the presence of dexamethasone (3 × 10−9 m, for 90 min) were shown to release some factor(s), having a mol. wt. of 15 k, as determined by size exclusion chromatography, which inhibited phospholipase A2 activity and offered significant protection against sudden death due to post-infarction arrhythmias in conscious rats pre-treated with actinomycin D (0.5 mg kg−1 i.v. 4 h before coronary ligation). This observation suggests that the cardioprotective effect of glucocorticoids in acute myocardial infarction may result from the de novo synthesis of macrocortin, an antiphospholipase protein.