Abstract : We investigated the influence of coronary artery reperfusion (CAR) duration on the infarct-limiting properties of adenosine A(1)-receptor stimulation-induced delayed preconditioning (A(1)-DPC) compared with ischemia-induced delayed preconditioning (I-DPC). Sixty-one chronically instrumented conscious rabbits successfully underwent the following protocol. On day 1, rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: control (saline, iv), I-DPC (six 4-min coronary artery occlusion/4-min reperfusion cycles), A(1)-DPC(100) (N(6)-cyclopentyladenosine, 100 microg/kg iv), and A(1)-DPC(400) (N(6)-cyclopentyladenosine, 400 microg/kg iv). On day 2 (i.e., 24 h later), rabbits underwent a 30-min coronary artery occlusion after which CAR was started and maintained for either 3 or 72 h. Infarct size (percentage of the area at risk) was determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. After 3 h of CAR, I-DPC, A(1)-DPC(100), and A(1)-DPC(400) significantly decreased infarct size (36 +/- 5, 41 +/- 4, 38 +/- 5%, respectively) compared with control (55 +/- 3%). After 72 h of CAR, infarct sizes were not significantly different among the four groups. This result was confirmed by histologic analysis. Thus A(1)-DPC at the two investigated doses, as well as I-DPC, decreased infarct size after 3 h but not 72 h of CAR.