Background Steroid use after cardiac arrest has been reported to improve survival and neurological outcome in cardiac arrest survivors. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of post-arrest hydrocortisone use on myocardial damage and cardiac mitochondrial injury in a rat model of ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest. Methods and Results Ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest was induced and left untreated for 5 minutes in adult male Wistar rats. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and electric shocks were then applied to achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Successfully resuscitated animals were randomized into 3 groups: control, low-dose hydrocortisone (2 mg/kg), and high-dose hydrocortisone (8 mg/kg). The low-dose hydrocortisone and high-dose hydrocortisone (treatment) groups received intravenous hydrocortisone immediately after ROSC and the control group received saline as placebo. Each group consisted of 15 animals. Within 4 hours of ROSC, both treatment groups showed a higher cardiac output than the control group. At the fourth hour following ROSC, histological examination and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated less myocardial damage and mitochondrial injury in the animals treated with hydrocortisone. In the treatment groups, hydrocortisone mitigated the acceleration of Ca2+-induced mitochondrial swelling and suppression of complex activity observed in the control group. At the 72nd hour after ROSC, a significantly higher proportion of animals treated with hydrocortisone survived and had good neurological recovery compared with those given a placebo. Conclusions Hydrocortisone use after cardiac arrest may mitigate myocardial injury and cardiac mitochondrial damage and thus improve survival, neurological and histological outcomes in a rat model of ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest.
Keywords: cardiac arrest; cytokine; hydrocortisone; mitochondria; myocardial damage.