Growth Hormone Secretagogues Preserve the Electrophysiological Properties of Mouse Cardiomyocytes Isolated from in Vitro Ischemia/Reperfusion Heart

Ischemic heart diseases often induce cardiac arrhythmia with irregular cardiac action potential (AP). This study aims to demonstrate that GH secretagogues (GHS) ghrelin and its synthetic analog hexarelin can preserve the electrophysiological properties of cardiomyocytes experiencing ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Isolated hearts from adult male mice underwent 20 min global ischemia followed by 30 min reperfusion using a Langendorff apparatus. Ghrelin (10 nm) or hexarelin (1 nm) was administered in the perfusion solution either 10 min before or after ischemia, termed pre- or posttreatments. Cardiomyocytes isolated from these hearts were used for whole-cell patch clamping to measure AP, voltage-gated L-type calcium current (ICaL), transient outward potassium current (Ito), and sodium current (INa). AP amplitude and duration were significantly decreased by I/R, but GHS treatments maintained their normality. GHS treatments prevented the decrease in ICaL and INa after I/R, thereby maintaining AP amplitude. Although the significant increase in Ito after I/R partially explained the shortened AP duration, the normalization of it by GHS treatments might contribute to the preservation of AP duration. Phosphorylated p38 and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase and the downstream active caspase-9 in the cellular apoptosis pathway were significantly increased after I/R but not when GHS treatments were included, whereas phosphorylation of ERK1/2 associated with cell survival showed increase after I/R and a further increase after GHS treatments by binding to its receptor GHS receptor type 1a. These results suggest GHS can not only preserve the electrophysiological properties of cardiomyocytes after I/R but also inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis and promote cell survival by modification of MAPK pathways through activating GHS receptor type 1a.