Levosimendan protects against ischemia – reperfusion injury in the human heart muscle. A pilot study

Abstract The consequences of myocardial infarction (MI) are an increasing problem worldwide. Despite spectacular progress in the invasive treatment ischemic heart disease, ability to limit ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury remains largely unrealized. Recent studies have shown that stimulation opioid receptors may confer a cardioprotective effect against I/R injury. Levosimendan, inodilator, is indicated for short-term acutely decompensated failure. We tested hypothesis levosimendan provide cardioprotection opioid-like mechanism human myocardium.