Background: N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) both replenishes reduced glutathione (GSH) and mitigates reperfusion injury. We hypothesized that liver content of GSH could affect remote myocardial reperfusion injury following liver ischemia-reperfusion.
Material and methods: Following stabilization (30 min), isolated rat livers (6/group) were perfused with Krebs--Henseleit solution (two control groups) or made globally ischemic (two ischemia groups) for 120 min. Paired livers+paced hearts (Langendorff preparation) were then reperfused for 15 min after which the hearts were recirculated alone for 50 min. NAC was added to Krebs (2 mM) that perfused livers during stabilization and reperfusion phases in one control and one ischemia group.
Results: GSH levels in the two control liver groups were identical (30.1±5.7 [SD] nmol/mg protein), and similar to that of the ischemia+NAC livers (28.6±2.8) but 2-fold that of the ischemia+0 livers (15.8±2.4 nmol/mg protein, p

Keywords: ischemia-reperfusion, Liver, Heart, Oxidants, Xanthine Oxidase, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, myocardial dysfunction