Cardioprotective Effect of Trimetazidine in Cardiac Contusion: Experimental Study

Abstract

Objective: to study the efficiency of pre-administration of trimetazidine in experimental cardiac contusion in order to lower the degree of posttraumatic myocardial dysfunction. Materials and methods: experiments were carried out on non-inbred albino male rats anesthetized with sodium thiopental. Cardiac contusion was reproduced by an original device that imitated a blow of the steering wheel to the anterior chest, as that observed when a moving car clashes against an obstacle. Some animals were traumatized after preadministration of trimetazidine (25 mg/kg intraperi-toneally). An electrocardiogram, left carotid blood pressure, an integral rheogram, and the first derivative of a differential rheogram were recorded in the direct fashion prior to cardiac contusion simulation and in different posttraumatic periods. Stroke volume, cardiac output, and total peripheral vascular resistance were calculated. Results. Preinjection of trimetazidine significantly prevented the development of arrhythmias in the early posttraumatic period and improved systemic hemodynamic parameters: stroke volume, cardiac output, blood pressure, and total peripheral vascular resistance. No death case within the first hour of a posttraumatic period was an integral criterion for the efficiency of preventive use of trimetazidine in cardiac contusion. Conclusion: trimetazidine produces a cardioprotective effect in experimental cardiac contusion, which shows it possible to clinically use the agent and provides indirect evidence that the ischemically hypoxic mechanism is involved in cardiac traumatic lesion. Key words: experimental cardiac contusion, central hemodynamics, arrhythmias, trimetazidine.