Effects of 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyl-doxorubicin on isolated perfused rat heart and cardiac mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase activity

The acute cardiac effects of the antitumour anthracycline 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyl-doxorubicin (THP) were studied on isolated, perfused, spontaneously beating rat hearts and on cardiac mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase activity. Perfusion for 1 hour with 2.5 or 5.0 micrograms/ml of THP was associated with a marked widening of the QRS complex and the S alpha T segment, as well as with a reduction of the R- and T-wave amplitude, the heart rate, the isometric systolic tension and the coronary flow. Heart perfusion with equimolar doses of doxorubicin (2.2 or 4.4 micrograms/ml) induced a significant enlargement of the SaT segment and a reduction in the heart rate and the coronary flow. Both anthracyclines inhibited the cytochrome c oxidase activity in a dose-dependent manner; however, THP exerted a significant inhibition at concentrations higher than doxorubicin (20 microM). Results demonstrate that THP induces a higher degree of acute cardiotoxicity on isolated rat hearts compared with doxorubicin. The reduced inhibitory effect of THP on the cytochrome c oxidase activity of isolated heart mitochondria is consistent with the lower degree of chronic cardiotoxicity displayed by THP in animals and humans.