Sarcolemmal KATP Channel Triggers Opioid-Induced Delayed Cardioprotection in the Rat

Recently, the involvement of sarcolemmal KATP (sarcKATP) channels in ischemic and pharmacological preconditioning (IPC and PPC) has been minimized by numerous studies suggesting a primary role for mitochondrial KATP (mitoKATP) channels in early and delayed cardioprotection. Although the mitoKATP channel has clearly been shown to be a distal effector of delayed IPC and PPC, studies implicating it as a trigger of protection in delayed IPC are lacking. Accordingly, we characterized the role of cardiac KATP channels as triggers or distal effectors of delayed cardioprotection induced by opioids in rats, and the data suggest that the sarcKATP channel triggers and that the mitoKATP channel is a distal effector of opioid-induced delayed cardioprotection.