Effects of calmodulin antagonist and slow calcium channel antagonist on reperfusion injury of isolated rat hearts in calcium paradox

AIM: To observe the protective effect of calmodulin antagonist trifluoperazine(TFP) and slow calcium channel antagonist verapamil (VP) upon calcium overload injury. METHODS: The calcium content of the myocardium, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, protein loss and coronary flow were measured after the isolated rat hearts were perfused by TFP and VP. RESULTS: TFP could significantly reduce the tissue calcium , LDH release and protein loss of the myocardium ( P <0.01) while VP had no such effects.The above indexes were further reduced when TFP and VP were used simutaneously( P <0.01).CONCLUSION:TFP can effectively alleviate the severity of the myocardium injury during calcium paradox while VP has no such effects.The simultanous use of VP and TFP is more effective in preventing tissue damage of the heart than the use of TFP alone.The massive influx of Ca²⁺ in calcium paradox is mainly a calmodulin related process.