CORONARY HEART DISEASE is the leading cause of death in the Western world and represents one of the major burdens on healthcare systems today. Targeting those strategies that limit the damage sustained as a result of a lethal ischemic insult has been a major goal for many years. One of these strategies, termed ischemic preconditioning, in which brief nonlethal episodes of ischemia protect the m...

TO THE EDITOR: Zinc is an essential heavy metal with multiple pleiotropic roles in biological systems. With regard to cell survival, it has been shown that zinc can have an antiapoptotic effect, acting either as an inorganic ion or as a key cofactor of many organic molecules (4). There are a number of zinc transporter systems in all cell membranes (10). Recently, a putative zinc receptor has be...

To share experiences, to join investigators and to promote the dialogue and the effective partnership in the context of the experimental research are basic movements for the development of any nation. In a recent time, from 5 to 9 of October of 2009, we organized the XI National Congress of Experimental Surgery in Rio de Janeiro, carried out in parallel with the XXIV Research Forum of the Brazi...

Background: Thrombolysis is efficacious for acute ischemic stroke; however it might increase the risk of following hemorrhage. Generally, hemorrhage may occur within the ischemic region because of ischemiareperfusion injury. However, hemorrhage of extraischemic lesion called extraischemic hemorrhage (EH) may sometimes observed. The risks and outcome of EH have been still controversial. Therefor...

RECENT EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE suggests that the anion nitrite represents an important storage form of nitric oxide (NO) that subsequently regulates a number of very important physiological activities (2–5, 10). This is a radical concept because nitrite was largely considered to be a biologically inert breakdown product of NO that served no physiological purpose. In fact, circulating nitrite leve...

The reaction between H2 and OH molecules is demonstrating to be of great importance in medical and biological environments, this surprises researchers because of the non-complexity of the molecules involved in this reaction. The molecule of H2 is the smallest gas molecule composed of two protons and two electrons, being very stable and reacting only with the oxide radical ion (O) [1]. There are...

Accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on tissue proteins increases with pathogenesis of diabetic complications and atherosclerosis. Here we examined the effect of peroxynitrite (ONOO ) on the formation of N -(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), a major AGE-structure. When glycated human serum albumin (HSA; Amadori-modified protein) was incubated with ONOO , CML formation was detected b...

AMONG THE VARIOUS CAUSES OF acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized patients, sepsis remains the most elusive and challenging for the practicing nephrologist. Decades of intensive basic, translational, and clinical research have failed to significantly alter the grim outcome of sepsis and sepsisinduced AKI (13). Nevertheless, active bench research continues to fuel the hope for successful the...

SCD is a model for chronic and diffuse vasculopathy resulting in tissue infarction and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Much attention has been placed on diffuse endothelial disease in SCD. More recently, diastolic heart failure has been recognized as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the general population and more specifically in SCD patients. However, there has been a paucity of ...

To the Editor: The recent article by Na et al shows that amplification of regulatory T-cell (Treg) improves stroke outcome in both permanent and transient mechanical vascular occlusion (TMVO) models in mice. Surprisingly, Schuhmann et al published the exact opposite finding 1 month before, ie, amplification of Treg worsens stroke outcome by increasing thromboinflammation. One year after publica...