Vascular KATP channels protect from cardiac dysfunction and preserve cardiac metabolism during endotoxemia.

KATP channels in the vasculature composed of Kir6.1 regulate vascular tone and may contribute to the pathogenesis of endotoxemia. We used mice with cell-specific deletion of Kir6.1 in smooth muscle (smKO) and endothelium (eKO) to investigate this question. We found that smKO mice had a significant survival disadvantage compared with their littermate controls when treated with a sub-lethal dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). All cohorts of mice became hypotensive following bacterial LPS administration; however, mean arterial pressure in WT mice recovered to normal levels, whereas smKO struggled to overcome LPS-induced hypotension. In vivo and ex vivo investigations revealed pronounced cardiac dysfunction in LPS-treated smKO, but not in eKO mice. Similar results were observed in a cecal slurry injection model. Metabolomic profiling of hearts revealed significantly reduced levels of metabolites involved in redox/energetics, TCA cycle, lipid/fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. Vascular smooth muscle-localised KATP channels have a critical role in the response to systemic infection by normalising cardiac function and haemodynamics through metabolic homeostasis. KEY MESSAGES: • Mice lacking vascular KATP channels are more susceptible to death from infection. • Absence of smooth muscle KATP channels depresses cardiac function during infection. • Cardiac dysfunction is accompanied by profound changes in cellular metabolites. • Findings from this study suggest a protective role for vascular KATP channels in response to systemic infection.