Apelin reduces myocardial reperfusion injury independently of PI3K/Akt and P70S6 kinase

Apelin, the endogenous ligand of the G protein-coupled APJ receptor, is a peptide mediator with emerging regulatory actions in the heart. The aim of the present studies was to explore potential roles of the apelin/APJ system in myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury. To determine the cardiac expression of apelin/APJ and potential regulation by acute ischaemic insult, Langendorff perfused rat hearts were subjected to regional ischaemia (left coronary artery occlusion, 35 min) or ischaemia followed by reperfusion (30 min). Apelin and APJ mRNA expression were then determined in ventricular myocardium by rt-PCR. Unlike APJ mRNA expression, which remained unchanged, apelin mRNA was upregulated 2.4 fold in ventricular myocardium from isolated rat hearts undergoing ischaemia alone, but returned back to control levels after 30 min reperfusion. We then proceeded to test the hypothesis that treatment with exogenous apelin is protective against ischaemia/reperfusion injury. Perfused hearts were subjected to 35 min left main coronary artery occlusion and 120 min reperfusion, after which infarct size was determined by tetrazolium staining. Exogenous Pyr1-apelin-13 (10− 8 M) was perfused either from 5 min prior to 15 min after coronary occlusion, or from 5 min prior to 15 min after reperfusion. Whilst ineffective when used during ischaemia alone, apelin administered during reperfusion significantly reduced infarct size (47.6 ±2.6% of ischaemic risk zone compared to 62.6 ± 2.8% in control, n = 10 each, p < 0.05) in hearts subject to temporary coronary occlusion followed by reperfusion. This protective effect was not abolished by co-administration of the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin (10− 7 M, infarct size 49.8 ± 4.1%, n = 4) or the P70S6 kinase inhibitor rapamycin (10− 9 M, 41.8 ± 8.8%, n = 4). In conclusion these results suggest that apelin may be a new and potentially important cardioprotective autacoid, upregulated rapidly after myocardial ischaemia and acting through an unknown pathway.