Effects of sulfonylurea derivatives on ischemia-induced loss of function in the isolated rat heart

This study determined whether sulfonylurea derivatives affect cardiac function prior to and after a mild ischemic incident (stunning). This was investigated using an isolated, erythrocyte-perfused, working rat heart model. In total, 11 groups were studied: five increasing (clinically relevant) concentrations of the classical glibenclamide (range 0.005–4 μmol l −1), five increasing concentrations of the newly developed glimepiride (range 0.005–0.8 μmol l −1), and one control group. Pre-ischemically, glibenclamide and glimepiride reduced coronary blood flow concentration dependently to 55.2±4.5% and 58.5±5.5%, respectively ( P