Background-The mechanism of delayed preconditioning induced by activation of adenosine A 1 receptors (A 1 ARs) is not fully understood. We determined the role of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in mediating adenosine-induced late cardioprotection using pharmacological inhibitors and iNOS gene-knockout mice. Methods and Results-Adult male mice were treated with saline or an A 1 AR agonist, 2-chloro-N 6 -cyclopentyladenosine (CCPA). Twenty-four hours later, the hearts were perfused in Langendorff mode and subjected to 30 minutes of global ischemia followed by 30 minutes of reperfusion. 8-Cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX; 0.1 mg/kg IP) and S-methylisothiourea (SMT; 3 mg/kg IP) were used to block A 1 ARs and iNOS, respectively. Infarct size (IS) was measured by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining, and iNOS expression was measured by Western blots. Myocardial IS was reduced from 24.0Ϯ3.2% in the saline group to 12.2Ϯ2.5% in CCPA-treated mice (PϽ0.05). The infarct-reducing effect of CCPA was abrogated by DPCPX (29.3Ϯ3.4%) and SMT (32.3Ϯ2.6%) and was absent in mice with targeted ablation of iNOS (23.9Ϯ1.6%). CCPA produced improvement in postischemic end-diastolic pressure, developed pressure, and rate-pressure product, which was also blocked by DPCPX and SMT. Increased iNOS protein expression observed in CCPA-treated hearts was diminished by DPCPX.
Conclusions-Selective