OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether endogenous nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) can inhibit arrhythmia and expression of β₁-adrenergic receptor (β₁-AR) on the surface of myocardial cell membrane in acute myocardial ischemia rats by Raf kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP). METHODS: (1) Experiment one: according to random number table method, 30 adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with only 6 weeks of age were divided into Sham group (open the chest but do not ligate the coronary artery), myocardial ischemia model group (coronary ligation of left anterior descending branch), and endogenous N/OFQ antagonists UFP-101 pretreatment group (UFP-101 group, preoperative 10 minutes after tail vein injection of 1 mL/kg UFP-101), with 10 rats in each group. Arrhythmia was recorded within 15 minutes after operation. The expression of phosphorylated RKIP (p-RKIP) was detected by Western Blot. (2) Experiment two: according to the random number table method, 30 4-week-old male SD rats were divided into UFP-101 control group, RKIP over expression group and RKIP antagonism group, with 10 rats in each group. The UFP-101 control group was intraperiton eally injected with corn oil every day, while the other two groups were injected with up adjuster of RKIP (Didymin). The rats in the three groups were all ligated after 4 weeks of feeding, and UFP-101 was injected through the tail vein 10 minutes before the operation. The RKIP antagonist group received intraperitoneal injection of the RKIP-specific antagonist locostatin 2 hours before surgery. Arrhythmia results were recorded within 15 minutes after operation. Western Blot was used to detect the expression of p-RKIP in myocardial tissue and expression of β₁-AR on the surface of myocardial cell membrane 15 minutes after surgery. RESULTS: (1) Experiment one: compared with Sham group, ventricular ectopic beat (VEB), ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF) increased significantly in the model group and UFP-101 group, and arrhythmia score increased significantly. In addition, compared with the Sham group, p-RKIP expression was increased in the model group and decreased in the UFP-101 group. Compared with the model group, preconditioning with UFP-101 significantly reduced the occurrence of arrhythmia [arrhythmia score: 1.5 (0.3, 5.0) vs. 4.0 (2.0, 5.0), P < 0.05], and the expression of p-RKIP in myocardial tissue significantly decreased (p-RKIP/total RKIP: 0.20±0.11 vs. 0.43±0.11, P < 0.05). This indicated that antagonistic N/OFQ could reduce the phosphorylation of RKIP and the occurrence of arrhythmia. (2) Experiment two: compared with the UFP-101 control group, overexpression of RKIP significantly increased the occurrence of arrhythmia events, and the expression of β₁-AR on the surface of the myocardial cell membrane significantly increased. And antagonism RKIP overexpression could make the occurrence of arrhythmia eased [arrhythmia score: 3.0 (2.0, 3.0) vs. 4.0 (2.0, 5.0), P < 0.05], and significantly reduce the expression of myocardial cell membrane surface β₁-AR (β₁-AR/Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase: 0.88±0.09 vs. 1.02±0.08, P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in total RKIP expression (total RKIP/GAPDH: 5.40±0.21 vs. 5.36±0.19, P > 0.05). This indicated that endogenous N/OFQ affected the expression of plasma β₁-AR on the surface of myocardial cell membrane and ischemic arrhythmia in rats through RKIP. CONCLUSIONS Endogenous N/OFQ can affect the expression of plasma β₁-AR on the membrane surface of ischemic myocardium and arrhythmia in rats via increased expression of RKIP phosphorylation.
Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Male ; Opioid Peptides/metabolism* ; Phosphatidylethanolamine Binding Protein ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Opioid ; Nociceptin