The failure of radical scavengers to attenuate the incidence of reperfusion arrhythmias despite improvement of cardiac function.

We studied the concomitant effects of scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on both cardiac function and the incidence of arrhythmias. Isolated rat heart was perfused with a working mode paced at 300 beats/min. The left coronary artery was occluded for 5, 7, 15, or 60 min and reperfused thereafter for 30 min. Superoxide dismutase and catalase were infused from 5 min prior to reperfusion to the end of reperfusion in the scavenger treatment group. In the 60-min ischemia group with scavenger treatment, the cardiac output was significantly higher than that in the untreated group at both 10 and 30 min of reperfusion (P less than 0.01). In the 15-min ischemia group with scavenger treatment, the cardiac output showed a tendency toward a higher value than that in the untreated group. The incidence of reperfusion arrhythmias occurring after a short ischemic time (5, 7, or 15 min) were similar in the scavenger treated and untreated groups; but, with a preceding ischemia of 60 min, the incidence of ventricular tachycardia was higher in the scavenger treated group than in the untreated group (P less than 0.02). In conclusion, scavengers improved contractile dysfunction but did not attenuate the incidence of arrhythmias.