β-adrenergic stimulation after rewarming does not mitigate hypothermia-induced contractile dysfunction in rat cardiomyocytes

Victims of severe accidental hypothermia are frequently treated with catecholamines to counteract the hemodynamic instability associated with hypothermia-induced cardiac contractile dysfunction. However, we previously reported that the inotropic effects of epinephrine are diminished after hypothermia and rewarming (H/R) in an intact animal model. Thus, the goal of this study was to investigate the effects of Epi treatment on excitation-contraction coupling in isolated rat cardiomyocytes after H/R. In adult male rats, cardiomyocytes isolated from the left ventricle were electrically stimulated at 0.5 Hz and evoked cytosolic [Ca²⁺] and contractile responses (sarcomere length shortening) were measured. In initial experiments, the effects of varying concentrations of epinephrine on evoked cytosolic [Ca²⁺] and contractile responses at 37 °C were measured. In a second series of experiments, cardiomyocytes were cooled from 37 °C to 15 °C, maintained at 15 °C for 2 h, then rewarmed to 37 °C (H/R protocol). Immediately after rewarming, the effects of epinephrine treatment on evoked cytosolic [Ca²⁺] and contractile responses of cardiomyocytes were determined. At 37 °C, epinephrine treatment increased both cytosolic [Ca²⁺] and contractile responses of cardiomyocytes in a concentration-dependent manner peaking at 25–50 nM. The evoked contractile response of cardiomyocytes after H/R was reduced while the cytosolic [Ca²⁺] response was slightly elevated. The diminished contractile response of cardiomyocytes after H/R was not mitigated by epinephrine (25 nM) and epinephrine treatment reduced the exponential time decay constant (Tau), but did not increase the cytosolic [Ca²⁺] response. We conclude that epinephrine treatment does not mitigate H/R-induced contractile dysfunction in cardiomyocytes.