BACKGROUND Ischemic preconditioning is a powerful mechanism in reducing infarct size of the heart. Protection can be performed either by an ischemic stimulus of the heart itself or by ischemia of an organ distant to the heart. To address the question whether this remote preconditioning is transduced by neuronal or humoral factors an in situ model of infrarenal occlusion of the aorta (IOA) in th...

Reperfusion is mandatory to salvage ischemic myocardium from infarction, but reperfusion per se contributes to injury and ultimate infarct size. Therefore, cardioprotection beyond that by timely reperfusion is needed to reduce infarct size and improve the prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction. The conditioning phenomena provide such cardioprotection, insofar as brief episodes o...

During the past 3 decades, several experimental studies have shown that ischemic conditioning reduces myocardial damage by modifying ischemia-reperfusion injury. A recent study in the Lancet indicates that remote ischemic preconditioning translates into clinical benefit in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. The implications of the study extend to patients undergoing elective an...

Objective(s): This study explored the inter-relationship among nitric oxide, opioids, and KATP channels in the signaling pathway underlying remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) conferred cardioprotection. Materials and Methods: Blood pressure cuff was placed around the hind limb of the animal and RIPC was performed by 4 cycles of infla...

Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery by avoiding cardioplegic arrest seems to reduce the risk of ischemic myocardial injury. However, even short-term regional ischemic periods, hemodynamic instability and arrhythmias associated with the procedure can be responsible for myocardial damage. Conditioning, a potential cardio-protective tool during on-pump cardiac surgery, has hardly been investig...

Ever since its discovery more than 2 decades ago, remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has generated tremendous interest among scientists and clinicians alike. However, two recent large, well-conducted, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have failed to identify any significant benefit of RIPC during cardiac surgery. A reconciliatory yet objective review of cumulative evidence with regard to ...

Short periods of myocardial ischemia followed by reperfusion induce a cardioprotective mechanism when the myocardium is subsequently subjected to a prolonged period of ischemia, a phenomenon known as ischemic preconditioning. As well as its application in the myocardium, ischemic preconditioning can also be induced by brief interruptions of blood flow to other organs, particularly skeletal musc...