Buffer glucose adjustment affects myocardial function after ischemia–reperfusion in long‐term diabetic rat isolated hearts

Due to its comorbidities type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension, the Zucker Spontaneous Hypertensive Fatty (ZSF1) rat is a clinically relevant animal model when assessing ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury. Most IR studies in hearts isolated from diabetic animals have been conducted at normal glucose concentrations, providing a different environment compared to in‐vivo. We hypothesized IR injury to be attenuated in isolated hearts of diabetic ZSF1 rats when adjusting the Krebs‐buffer (KB) to their in‐vivo, i.e., elevated blood glucose (BG) levels. Diabetic and non‐diabetic ZSF1 rats were anesthetized, hearts isolated and Langendorff‐prepared. While standard KB was used for the non‐diabetic and diabetic unadjusted groups, KB with glucose levels increased to each rat's prior BG level was used for the adjusted diabetic group. All hearts underwent 30 min ischemia and 120 min reperfusion. Diastolic contracture during ischemia and early reperfusion was delayed and temporarily attenuated in the adjusted compared to the unadjusted diabetic and the non‐diabetic groups. The decrease in coronary flow on reperfusion was attenuated in diabetic animals. Left ventricular developed pressure and contractility were not different among the three groups. Infarct size was significantly lower in non‐diabetic animals; buffer adjustment made no difference in diabetic animals. In our study, T2DM did not worsen myocardial function in ZSF1 rat isolated hearts. Since our results reveal that hearts with an adjusted glucose level exhibit an at least temporary improvement of function following IR, further studies should consider adapting glucose levels to create more realistic conditions in isolated, perfused hearts.