FR167653 diminishes infarct size in a murine model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury

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Objective During myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase is activated. We examined the effect of a highly specific inhibitor of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, FR167653, in an experimental model of regional myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. Methods CD-1 mice received FR167653 intraperitoneally 24 hours before 30 minutes of transient occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation and kinase activity were determined by Western blotting with monoclonal antibodies for the phosphorylated from of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase or its substrate, activating transcription factor 2. Nuclear factor κB activity was measured by detecting translocation of nuclear factor κB to the nucleus. The expression of inflammatory cytokines was measured by ribonuclease protection assay. Results Pretreatment of mice with FR167653 before myocardial ischemia-reperfusion resulted in a reduction in p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation ( P = .018), an inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity ( P = .047), a smaller amount of nuclear factor κB ( P = .001), and a decrease in the expression of inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α: P = .023, interleukin 1β: P = .038, monocyte chemotactic protein 1: P = .0001) in the heart and the development of a significantly smaller infarct ( P = .0069) relative to hearts from mice treated with vehicle alone. Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular signal–regulated kinase were observed after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion without inhibition by FR167653. Conclusion We conclude that FR167653 selectively inhibits p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation and activity during regional myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and efficaciously reduces infarct size (by 73.6%). Thus p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibition may have a role in the treatment of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion.