Cardioprotective effects of nitric oxide-aspirin in myocardial ischemia-reperfused rats

In this study, the cardioprotective effects of nitric oxide ( NO)-aspirin, the nitroderivative of aspirin, were compared with those of aspirin in an anesthetized rat model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. Rats were given aspirin or NO-aspirin orally for 7 consecutive days preceding 25 min of myocardial ischemia followed by 48 h of reperfusion (MI/R). Treatment groups included vehicle ( Tween 80), aspirin ( 30 mg.kg.(-1).day(-1)), and NO-aspirin (56 mg.kg.(-1).day(-1)). NO-aspirin, compared with aspirin, displayed remarkable cardioprotection in rats subjected to MI/R as determined by the mortality rate and infarct size. Mortality rates for vehicle (n=23), aspirin (n=22), and NO-aspirin groups (n=22) were 34.8, 27.3, and 18.2%, respectively. Infarct size of the vehicle group was 44.5 +/- 2.7% of the left ventricle (LV). In contrast, infarct size of the LV decreased in the aspirin-and NO-aspirin-pretreated groups, 36.7 +/- 1.8 and 22.9 +/- 4.3%, respectively ( both P < 0.05 compared with vehicle group; P < 0.05, NO-aspirin vs. aspirin). Moreover, NO-aspirin also improved ischemia-reperfusion-induced myocardial contractile dysfunction on postischemic LV developed pressure. In addition, NO-aspirin downregulated inducible NO synthase ( iNOS; 0.37-fold, P < 0.01) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2; 0.61-fold, P < 0.05) gene expression compared with the vehicle group after 48 h of reperfusion. Treatment with N-G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 20 mg/kg), a nonselective NOS inhibitor, aggravated myocardial damage in terms of mortality and infarct size but attenuated effects when coadministered with NO-aspirin. L-NAME administration did not alter the increase in iNOS and COX-2 expression but did reverse the NO-aspirin-induced inhibition of expression of the two genes. The beneficial effects of NO-aspirin appeared to be derived largely from the NO moiety, which attenuated myocardial injury to limit infarct size and better recovery of LV function following ischemia and reperfusion.