The effects of aspirin and indomethacin on the ventricular arrhythmias produced by ligation (ischaemia) and unligation (reperfusion) of the circumflex branch of the left coronary vessel were evaluated in fifty male rabbits weighing 1.5-2 kg. Pretreatment of animals with aspirin (50 mg/kg i/v) suppressed all arrhythmias during ischaemia. Low dose of aspirin (12.5 mg/kg i/v) produced no mortality...

Hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury at birth is associated with 1-3/1000 cases of moderate to severe encephalopathy. Previously, we have shown that connexin 43 hemichannel blockade, with a specific mimetic peptide, reduced the occurrence of seizures, improved recovery of EEG power and sleep state cycling, and improved cell survival following global cerebral ischaemia. In the present study, we examin...

1. This review focuses on the extracellular actions of ATP and adenosine, and in particular their role in cardiovascular regulation. 2. ATP serves as a co-transmitter within the sympathetic nervous system, and is also released from endothelium and aggregating thrombocytes. ATP acts on P2x purinoceptors on vascular smooth muscle cells to induce vasoconstriction. Stimulation of P2y purinoceptors ...

The angiopoietins and Tie receptors are involved in blood vessel formation. The role of the angiopoietin/Tie receptor system in myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion is not well known. To investigate the participation of angiopoietins and Tie receptors in myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion, adult Wistar rats were studied in which the left coronary artery was ligated for 30 min, followed by reperfusion...

BACKGROUND Myocardial hibernation and stunning are characterised by a reversible contractile dysfunction during and after ischaemia, respectively. Calcium homeostasis might be disturbed in hibernation and stunning due to altered expression of cardiac proteins involved in calcium handling. METHODS In enflurane-anaesthetised swine the coronary blood flow through the left anterior descending cor...

AIMS Use of enriched environment (EE) housing has been shown to promote recovery from cerebral ischaemic injury but the underlying mechanisms of their beneficial effects remains unclear. Here we examined whether the beneficial effects of EE housing on ischaemia-induced neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment are associated with increased insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signalling in the...

BACKGROUND Intraoperative ischaemia during carotid cross-clamping in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a major complication and prompt recognition of insufficient collateral blood supply is crucial. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is believed to be one of the useful forms of monitoring cerebrovascular insufficiency during CEA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of bi...

any importance to thallium data even in these young patients. Nevertheless, it is open to speculation whether this important subgroup is characterized by a special anatomical substrate' or pathophysiological mechanism leading to an extraordinarily high degree of subendocardial ischaemia. Mainly because of methodological problems, ambulatory ST-monitoring seems to be of limited value for ischaem...

Despite the evidence in experimental animal models that insulin, or GIK (glucose-insulin-potassium), improves left ventricular function and perfusion during both acute and chronic ischaemia, clinical studies have generated conflicting results. We tested the hypothesis that pretreatment with GIK attenuates the vascular and functional effects of stress-induced myocardial ischaemia in humans. Twen...

The concept that the reintroduction of oxygen to the ischaemic myocardium causes significant injury has long been known [1], and it is now well-established [2] that oxidative stress is one of the major initiators of myocardial injury during ischaemia and reperfusion. Cardiac surgery for coronary artery bypass generally involves cardiopulmonary bypass with cardioplegic arrest and elective global...