Ischemic-like change produced in canine heart by atractyloside: a chemical model.

Experiments were conducted in two canine models. Intracoronary infusion of atractyloside resulted in physiological, biochemical, and ultrastructural changes similar to those seen with ischemia. The fact that atractyloside, a specific inhibitor of adenine nucleotide translocase produces this change in vivo suggests that this inhibition in the key disturbance that initiates the metabolic derangements seen with ischemia. This chemical model seems to provide unique opportunities to study the possible factors that may reverse adenine nucleotide translocase inhibition and thus possibly prevent cell injury.